Sean Marks to return as Nets GM, lead coaching search despite letdown season

Despite crawling through a disappointing season during which his team posted the NBA’s ninth-worst record, Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks is not going anywhere. The eighth-year GM is set to return next season and hire the team’s next head coach, according to a report from the New York Post.

After firing Jacque Vaughn and promoting Kevin Ollie to interim head coach at the All-Star break, Marks insisted he and owner Joe Tsai remain in lockstep.

“Joe [Tsai] and I have always been in complete partnership,” he said. “Joe and I will make the decision [of hiring the next head coach] and he has given me no reason to believe that I won’t be able to make that decision. We’ll take a lot of factors into account as we make this. We’ve got time, we’re not gonna be in a rush, there’s gonna be a robust search, and by the end of this I have no doubt that we’ll find the best person fit for this job.”

The partnership remains intact entering the offseason despite the letdown of a campaign that the 2023-24 season was. Marks said he wanted to see “movement” toward a playoff berth after the midseason coaching change. That never came to fruition, though, with Brooklyn posting an 11-16 record while ranking 24th in offense and 15th in defense under Ollie.

Sean Marks’ track record with the Nets

With no draft capital or premium talent at his disposal upon taking over the Nets, Marks earned league-wide praise for building a playoff team in less than three years. His scrappy 2018-19 squad attracted Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who he signed during the ensuing offseason with two max slots he opened by manipulating the salary cap. Marks parlayed his young players and future draft picks into a trade for James Harden, creating what many considered the most talented big three in NBA history.

However, injuries derailed a 2021 playoff run, and Irving’s refusal to comply with New York’s workplace COVID-19 mandate derailed the following season. With Irving ineligible to play in home games and Durant injured, Harden asked for a trade at the 2022 deadline. Durant and Irving followed suit over the next year, leaving the Nets with Ben Simmons’ monstrosity of a contract and a cohort of veteran wings.

Despite his star trio asking for trades within a year, Marks has spoken confidently about his ability to attract marquee names again.