Sean Marks' controversial Nets draft picks had better answer the questions they come with

New York Post

6 hours ago

The Nets' first-round draft plan — as unpopular as it was — might not be simple, but it's straightforward.
Get high-basketball IQ, high-feel, high-character players.
And basically gamble their rebuild on them.
That's what Brooklyn GM Sean Marks did in the first round of the draft. The Nets tanked last season, collected draft assets and went into Wednesday with a record five first-round picks. And the only thing more shocking than Marks actually keeping them all was who he picked with them.
The Nets stunned the building — and the league — by taking Russian point guard Egor Demin with the eighth pick, about 10 spots higher than he was predicted to go. He was largely viewed as a reach before they followed with French point guard Nolan Traoré 19th, North Carolina wing Drake Powell 22nd, Israeli point guard Ben Saraf 26th and Michigan big man Danny Wolf a pick later.
In taking three teenaged international lead guards and a slick-passing big who served as Michigan's primary playmaker — with Powell the lone athletic 3-and-D outlier — the Nets made their plan as clear as Waterford crystal. They wanted players who can pass, move the ball and make plays.
3 The Nets' decision to draft Egor Demin No. 8 overall stunned the NBa world.
Getty Images
'Yeah, that goes hand-in-hand with IQ, and how they play the game … very quick decisions. It's 0.5-second basketball, you catch and make a decision. You don't hold the ball,' Marks said.
Just like people in the dating pool, NBA GMs all have a 'type.' Toronto's Masai Ujiri loves long-armed athletes. Marks has preferred high-character players, but now he's clearly seeking quick-processing, ball-moving playmakers.
'Where we're going with this is, we're trying to find a brand of basketball that not only we think translates to a competitive brand out there and it's going to fit with the Brooklyn community,' Marks said, 'but it's also where the NBA is going: guys who can play multiple positions, guard multiple positions and make it hard on the defense.'
Indiana and Oklahoma City rode those traits to the NBA Finals, excelling with feel and movement.
Marks has taken home run swings trying to replicate that. It seems like there is no gray area between grand slam and ugly strikeout.
Demin was dubbed 'possibly the best 19-year-old passer in the world' by ESPN international analyst Fran Fraschilla, and averaged 7.1 assists per 36 minutes. Traoré averaged 7.4 and Saraf 6.3, with even Wolf at 4.2 despite his size.
3 Nolan Traore celebrates after being drafted by the Nets with the No. 19 pick.
NBAE via Getty Images
Jeremias Engelmann — who was an analyst for the Mavericks and Suns, and created ESPN's Real Plus-Minus — pointed out that there were only three players who averaged more than six assists per 36 minutes in this draft class. Brooklyn drafted all three, while Wolf had the second–highest ever for an NCAA player listed at 7-feet.
'Yeah, they took Egor, Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, then Ben Saraf,' Wolf said. 'It's very high-IQ individuals who are super-smart and savvy with the ball, just know how to play the game the right way and high-character individuals. I'm excited to see how it all comes together.'
Excited isn't the word for many Nets fans. Worried? Angry? Apoplectic?
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There are legitimate concerns.
Demin — Brooklyn's first lottery pick in 15 years and the presumptive foundational piece they tanked to get — shot just 27 percent from 3-point range this season at BYU. That's the swing skill that will determine the middling athlete's NBA future. Saraf hit just 29 percent and Traoré 31 percent.
And unlike the Thunder and Pacer stars, Demin and Saraf lack an ability to make foes feel them physically with an elite trait.
3 Drake Powell was somewhat of an outlier among the Nets' first-round picks.
AP
An agent texted with The Post during the late stages of Wednesday's first rounds, saying, 'Bro they more often than not played [three two-way] players at a time to end up with [three] 'meh' players so far…insane.'
Maybe. Nets fans can only hope there is a method to Marks' madness.
Brooklyn will surely tank again this season for a lottery pick in a loaded draft that is expected to include AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Nate Ament, Cameron Boozer and Mexico's Karim Lopez. But the Nets willingly entered a three-year rebuild, and will be expected to come out competitive on the other side.
The path they've taken to get there is clear and straightforward. But it's going to be anything but simple.