What happened on the court during the Nets‘ 118-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center was not nearly as important as what transpired at halftime. Addressing reporters for the first time since the start of training camp, general manager Sean Marks explained his rationale behind Thursday’s trades and shared his vision for the future of the franchise.
“These days are never easy,” Marks said. “The trade deadline is one of those days that have an opportunity to acquire new players, tweak the team a little bit. I look forward to those opportunities, but at the same time it comes with people leaving your Nets family, and that’s never the easiest for anybody.”
The Nets first acquired Dennis Schröder and Thaddeus Young from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie. Next, in a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies, they acquired Keita Bates-Diop, Jordan Goodwin and second round draft picks in 2026, 2028 and 2029 in exchange for Royce O’Neale.
Both deals were completed by Thursday evening. Brooklyn waived Young and Harry Giles III. It will also waive Goodwin in the coming days, the Daily News confirmed, which leaves the team with one available roster spot as the regular season continues. Marks did not confirm whether the team will fill its vacant 15th roster spot.
“Like normal, we’ll canvas the league and see who else is out there,” he said. “We’re going to keep our options open for now, for sure.”
Schröder, 30, was averaging 13.7 points and 6.1 assists for Toronto this season, which signed him to a two-year, $26 million contract last summer. Marks said he is a player the team has “focused and followed” for years now.
“I was fortunate enough to be over and watch FIBA last offseason and saw him there as well,” Marks said. “It was great to see how he led Germany and what he did for that team. He brings a little toughness, grit, the things that we’re looking for. It’s going to be fun to get him amongst this locker room and help these guys compete and get out there.”
Schröder attended Thursday’s game at Barclays Center and had his introductory press conference afterward. He said the Raptors did not get in from Charlotte until early Thursday morning and his agent, Mark Bartlestein, woke him up from his sleep in the afternoon to inform him that he had been traded to Brooklyn. It took multiple attempts from Bartlestein until Schröder answered the phone. The news was obviously shocking.
“I mean, having a family, having three kids, a wife, it’s not easy,” Schröder said. “But at the end of the day, nothing really changed. Of course, I go to a new city, new situation; but at the end of the day, we play basketball for a living and really extremely grateful for it. And can’t wait to get to know everybody in the locker room, front office, everybody who is in this organization and get to work.”
Schröder said he ultimately does not care about the circumstances that brought him to Brooklyn. Now that he is here, his only concern is winning.
The Nets fell to 20-31 this season following Thursday’s loss. Schröder said he spent the first half back in the locker room completing his required physicals. He is expected to debut with Brooklyn on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I think in any team, when you put your egos to the side and it’s just about winning, I think that’s when you can reach your goals,” Schröder said. “At the end of the day, like I said, it’s my first day here, I knew a couple of guys already, but that’s what I’m about. You know, just being honest, honest conversations, and if you see something we can do better to help the team, we should do it… I think if we head into that direction, we will win a lot of games.”
Marks said creating future flexibility was the franchise’s priority on Thursday, perhaps to go star hunting in the summer for a player like Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, who finished with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists in his latest matchup against Brooklyn. The trades put the team about $11 million under the league’s luxury tax threshold.
“We’re looking way down the road here for us,” Marks said. “What’s fitting with our timetable, what’s fitting the group that we’re envisioning… So hopefully we accomplished some of those goals. I think we feel pretty good about it by adding the players we obviously added.
“We know we’re getting some immediate help with Dennis. We obviously like Keita Bates. We’re excited to bring Keita in here, have followed him since Ohio State, so we know the player well. But again, when you’re getting three future draft assets here, I couldn’t tell you how they’re going to be used. But that’s the opportunity for me, that’s the exciting thing for our group… With that said, we’re going to miss a player like Royce immensely. I think Phoenix knows exactly what they’re getting with him.”
Marks did not confirm what the Nets’ timetable will look like in this latest rebuild. He said right now the franchise is focused on player development, specifically guys on the younger end of the spectrum such as Mikal Bridges (27), Cam Thomas (22) and Nic Claxton (24).
“I don’t want to say we’re on a three, four-year timetable — it could be faster than that,” Marks said. “We’ve seen it move quicker in the past.”
Said Bridges, “Everybody just wants to get better and we got the guys to do it.”
And for fans who are unsure of the Nets’ current direction, Marks tried to address their concerns, too.
“I have the utmost faith in this group, this group of players and this staff to go out there and put a sustainable product on the floor,” he said. “That’s going to be a goal here, to compete night in and night out — something that the fans can get behind. The right brand of basketball. We’ve talked about the “Brooklyn grit” all the time. That’s what it takes to survive in this borough. That’s the brand that we’re going to have to play out there and that’s behind some of the acquisitions and trades that we’ve made over the course of the last 24 hours.”
