Devin Kharpertian reporting from the Barclays Center for YES
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The Brooklyn Nets and new GM Sean Marks certainly have a difficult road ahead, as they attempt to transform a struggling team without having control of any of their own first- or second-round draft picks over the next three years. Devin Kharpertian, managing editor and founding partner of The Brooklyn Game on the YES Network, joins us to explain exactly how the Nets got themselves into this situation, the current state of the team and why there might be glimmers of optimism after an overhaul of the front office this season. Exciting excerpts below:
1:55-2:40 on what new GM Sean Marks must do going forward:
“The thing that they have to do is wield some of their power in free agency this year. Now the problem with that is 25 of 30 teams are able to sign somebody to a max deal… It’s a really tough avenue for (the Nets), because the only thing they can do is something that almost every other team can do and almost every other team is in a better position to do, because the Nets just don’t have the talent to compete. It’s going to take some magic from Sean Marks.”
3:58-4:11 on whether any Nets player is off limits:
“Brook (Lopez) and Thad (Young) are the centerpieces right now, and Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) is a piece of that as well. But, I think for the right deal. They’re 21-52 at this point; nobody on that team is untouchable.”
6:04-6:26 on the Nets’ huge trade with the Celtics in 2013:
“Obviously it’s all fallen apart and the house of cards has come tumbling down, but at the time, you could very much see the rationale of bringing in two Hall of Famers who are going to complement a re-energized Deron Williams… Brook Lopez and putting them next to Joe Johnson. It obviously didn’t work out, but that was supposed to be a great team.”
13:54-14:09 on Bojan Bogdanovic:
“Looking at pieces for the future that fit into what the Nets are trying to do, you can very easily see Bogdanovic fitting in as either the third- or fourth-best scorer in the starting lineup or the first guy off the bench who provides you with that offensive spark.”
14:28-15:01 on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s strengths and deficiencies:
“He’s an incredible defender. From Day One, you could see it… On offense, he’s a good cutter to the basket, a good slasher, but his biggest weakness is the thing that is changing the game right now, which is that he can’t hit a shot outside of 15 feet. You can see a noticeable hitch… He’s going to have to completely rework his jump shot.”
25:28-26:25 on Brook Lopez’s unheralded brilliant season:
“Brook Lopez is really having a great season. He’s having one of the better seasons of his career, and it’s a shame that he’s surrounded by a bunch of talent that is trying to prove it belongs in the league, rather than guys who have established themselves. He’s an incredible post-up scorer, a great pick n’ roll scorer, a better rebounder than he has been before… He’s the kind of guy who is very loyal. He’s been peddled on the trade market since the day he was drafted and still he re-signed here, he likes being here, he’s moving to Brooklyn, getting a condo in the summer… He’s improved his passing this year. If you’re not watching the Nets, it’s hard to appreciate Brook Lopez, because you think he’s just putting up stats on a bad team.”
28:55-29:07 on the Nets’ head coaching search:
“If I had to guess who the next coach would be, I would bet on Ettore Messina, if only because he has connections with Sean Marks and Trajan Langdon and he also has connections with Mikhail Prokhorov. I think that’s the direction they’re going to go with the coaching search.”
Music: “Who Likes to Party” by Kevin MacLeod
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