How Bad are NBA GMs? Ep. 3 - Brooklyn Nets
In this series I will be breaking down every impactful transaction in the NBA to better understand the performance of the average NBA GM. Since the vast majority of decisions made by GMs cannot be proven to be good or bad immediately, we will start in the year 2018. Weight = how impactful the action is/was for the franchise. Rating = quantifying the decision in hindsight from 1-10, 10 being excellent and 1 being terrible.
GM - Sean Marks (2016-present)
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The Brooklyn Nets were a terrible team during the 2017-18 season. They would start the calendar year with a 14-23 record, finish the year with 28 wins, and when you look at that roster you probably would have guessed fewer. They did not have their own 1st rounder, but they did have a couple 2nd rounders as well as a late 1st and Marks would have been looking to hit on at least one of those for the future health of the club.
Feb 5 2018 Tyler Zeller, C Traded to Milwaukee (MIL) from Brooklyn (BKN) for 2018 2nd round pick [protected 31-47] and Rashad Vaughn
Brooklyn basically snagged a high-second round pick here for free
Weight: 30% Rating: 9/10
Jun 21 2018 Dzanan Musa, SG Drafted by Brooklyn (BKN): Round 1 (#29 overall)
No way around the fact that this was just a straight up bad pick. After 550 mins of sub-par NBA play, Musa is currently stinking it up in Turkey.
Weight: 70% Rating: 1/10
Jun 21 2018 Hamidou Diallo, SG Traded to Charlotte (CHA) from Brooklyn (BKN) with Timofey Mozgov , 2021 2nd round pick, $5 million and [to be processed in July] for Dwight Howard
For clarity:
Howard would be waived, so this is just a somewhat-complex salary cap move. While Diallo still may prove to be a starter in this league, Mozgov was already done by this point. It seems this deal was not only necessary but very creative.
Weight: 70% Rating: 8/10
Jun 21 2018 Rodions Kurucs, SF Drafted by Brooklyn (BKN): Round 2 (#40 overall)
In about 2100 career minutes, Kurucs has provided -.4 WAR
Weight: 30% Rating: 2/10
Jul 13 2018 Kenneth Faried, PF Traded to Brooklyn (BKN) from Denver (DEN) with Darrell Arthur , 2020 2nd round pick and 2019 1st round pick (#27 - traded) for Isaiah Whitehead
For clarity:
More salary cap magic from Sean Marks. This trade has nothing to do with players and talent, just money and picks. Brooklyn gets an expiring deal, a 1st and a 2nd for basically nothing.
Weight: 70% Rating: 9/10
Jul 13 2018 Jeremy Lin, PG Traded to Atlanta (ATL) from Brooklyn (BKN) with 2025 2nd round pick and right to swap 2023 2nd round picks for 2020 2nd round pick [top-55 protected (Portland's pick)] and Isaia Cordinier
For clarity:
Yet another salary cap move (on the same day, no less). Not quite as impressive as the last 2 trades, but it had to be done.
Weight: 50% Rating: 7/10
Jul 17 2018 Shabazz Napier, PG Signed a 2 $3.79 million year contract with Brooklyn (BKN)
Napier would be excellent in 1000 minutes the next season.
Weight: 20% Rating: 10/10
Jul 20 2018 Jared Dudley, SF Traded to Brooklyn (BKN) from Phoenix (PHX) with 2021 2nd round pick [top-35 protected] for Darrell Arthur
Took on another expiring deal ($9.5m), acquired a top 35 protected pick and gave up nothing.
Weight: 50% Rating: 10/10
Jul 23 2018 Ed Davis, C Signed a 1 year $4.4 million contract with Brooklyn (BKN)
In almost 1500 minutes, Davis played well above the expectations dictated by a $4.4m contract
Weight: 30% Rating: 9/10
Jul 25 2018 Joe Harris, SG Signed a 2 year $16 million contract with Brooklyn (BKN)
Harris would become a staple for the Nets, his best year (by far) coming in '20-'21. With that said, this contract was only for 2 years which - production-wise - were very average and on-brand for $8m/year.
Weight: 60% Rating: 6/10
Jul 30 2018 Treveon Graham, SF Signed a 2 year $3.16 million contract with Brooklyn (BKN)
Nothing to write home about, but Graham would do his job well in 800 minutes the next season.
Weight: 20% Rating: 7/10
Oct 15 2018 Caris LeVert, SG Brooklyn (BKN) exercised $2.63 million team option for 2019-20
Obvious move, to pick up LeVert's option. He would have his best year the next season, contributing 3.2 WAR.
Weight: 10% Rating: 10/10
Oct 15 2018 Jarrett Allen, C Brooklyn (BKN) exercised $2.38 million team option for 2019-20
This is a weird one. We know now that Jarrett Allen is a very solid player. But in 2018 he was coming off a bad rookie year (-1 WAR) and the next year would be even worse (-2.1 WAR). Though the immediate performance suggests the extension was a poor choice, we know that, long-term, it was the right choice.
Weight: 10% Rating: 7/10
Dec 13 2018 Spencer Dinwiddie, PG Signed a 3 year $34.4 million contract extension with Brooklyn (BKN) - includes 3rd-Year Player Option
For $11.5m/year, Dinwiddie was paid to perform like a low-to-mid-level starter and he consistently exceeded those expectations over the next 3 years.
Weight: 70% Rating: 8/10
Conclusions:
This write-up obviously took a lot longer than Boston (nearly 3x the amount of impactful actions). Though he definitely had a poor draft, Sean Marks showed in 2018 a real knack for manipulating the cap in advantageous ways. He also hit on every free-agent signing.
Weighted Average Transaction Rating: 7/10 Tied for #1 (out of 3)
Big Decision (70%+) Average: 6.5/10 Ranked #2 (out of 3)
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