Patience is a virtue. It's a saying Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks took to heart while canvassing the trade market for Mikal Bridges over the last year. After Marks turned down numerous offers for Bridges, the sense around the league was that it would take a king's ransom to pry the 27-year-old away.
The New York Knicks' offer of five first-round picks, one first-round pick swap, and a second-round pick fit that description. Brooklyn had been in serious negotiations with several teams – including the Utah Jazz – before agreeing to the deal with the Knicks, league sources told ClutchPoints. While sending his top player to his crosstown rival was a stunning development, Marks knew New York's offer was too good to pass up.
“We were weighing the situation we found ourselves in as a team, as an organization, the timing of such. It's a difficult decision because Mikal was a focal point of this organization for the last year since we did the trade,” the GM said Monday. “But at the same time when you have an offer like we did from New York, I think that sets us up on a very, very clear direction and pathway to continue to build this team with sustainable success, and that's that's the ultimate goal here… In terms of this particular deal, this was by far the best deal for our organization at this particular time.”
The Nets made Jordi Fernandez aware of rebuild possibility
Sean Marks said the deal came together very quickly, and contrary to other reports, he was adamant that Bridges did not request a trade to New York. The Nets made a simultaneous deal with the Houston Rockets to regain control of their 2025 and 2026 draft picks, allowing them to enter a full rebuild.
Over the last year, Brooklyn had signaled a desire to remain competitive by pairing Bridges with a star. However, it was never clear who that star could be, and Marks knew landing one was far from a guarantee. This made trading Bridges and resetting a real possibility.
That lack of clarity can be a difficult sell when hiring a head coach. It could be a good indication of why up-and-coming coach Jordi Fernandez was Brooklyn's choice for the role rather than veteran Mike Budenholzer. Although Marks was prepared to make a run at a star this summer, he made sure Fernandez knew a rebuild could be on the horizon.
“It’s very important to be upfront when you’re hiring a coach,” Marks said. “For them to know, ‘Hey look, there's a variety of different pathways that we can go down.' We knew the flexibility that we had in terms of the roster, the salary cap, the salaries that we had, that this could be one of them. We're not gonna shy away from that. So he knew well ahead that this was an avenue that we could be going down and he has bought in completely.”
Sean Marks will take lessons from Brooklyn's last rebuild
Marks is no stranger to rebuilding. He built Brooklyn into a contender in less than four seasons despite not having control of the team's draft picks. That required creativity, such as trading for a castoff top pick in D'Angelo Russell, hitting on under-the-radar signings like Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris, or moving off aging veterans Bojan Bogdanović and Thaddeus Young for draft picks that turned into Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.
Those same maneuvers will be in the playbook this time, only now Marks will be armed with 15 first-round picks over the next seven years. The Nets can also open over $80 million in cap space next summer, which they can use to sign players or absorb unwanted contracts in return for more draft picks.
“I think there's great lessons as we built this the first time,” Marks said. “The first couple years, we built through offer sheets, we built through cap space, being creative in some of those signings and trades that we made. We'll take that and try to implement the same thing as we do it now. But again, we didn't have a whole lot of draft picks back then. I do know BJ and the rest of our college scouts are extremely excited about the opportunity that they have in front of them.
“And this time we can build through the cap space that we'll have. It's a new CBA. So I think that affects everybody a little differently… Nobody's quite sure how it's going to be. You look at the free agency right now and how it's affecting different teams. So for us to maintain that flexibility into the season is pretty important.”
How long will this rebuild take?
While Sean Marks accumulated a stockpile of draft picks by trading Kevin Durant and then flipping Bridges, none were more crucial than his own in 2025 and 2026. The Nets have not made a lottery pick since 2011, when they selected Derrick Favors third overall. They're now in a prime position to land a top selection in a loaded 2025 draft.
Brooklyn could have five picks in the top 40 next year, and make no mistake, the talent in the 2025 and 2026 classes played a role in Marks' decision to pivot and rebuild.
“The [quality of the draft] is always a factor in it. I mean, we're always looking two, three, four years ahead to try to navigate a pathway,” the GM said. “And I think when we were looking at this [with us] not holding our picks, honestly, that would have been detrimental with those two draft classes. Now we know we have quite a number of picks, especially in 2025. So we'll see how we navigate that but we're excited about what the future holds as we build this up and through the draft.”
In recent years, the NBA has seen several teams — including the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, and Rockets — rebuild quickly using top draft picks, cap space, and other assets. The Nets are following a similar path, and while Marks said they won't rush the process, he doesn't think it will take long.
“I think we have to be patient. We're not going to be in a hurry,” he said. “But this build, do I think it’s going to take time? We’ll be strategic in it. But I do think being in this market, with this amount of draft assets, we’ve done it before… Not that it’s going to be expedited by any means, but I don’t think it’s a long process either.”
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