Nets Plan To Remain Strategic As They Weigh Star Pursuit In Offseason

April 16, 2025

The Brooklyn Nets could pursue a star-caliber player this NBA offseason, but only if the right opportunity presents itself, general manager Sean Marks said during his end-of-season media session.

Coming off a 32-50 campaign and a midseason coaching change, the Nets are armed with significant cap space and draft assets. But Marks cautioned that any move for a maximum-salary player must be the type that can immediately elevate the team into contention.

“If you’re going after max-level talent, they have [to] automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team,” Marks said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “This can’t be like ‘Let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a six or seven seed.’ When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”

While players such as Trae Young, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant and Domantas Sabonis have surfaced in trade speculation, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has long been considered an ideal target for Brooklyn. However, prying the two-time MVP from Milwaukee this offseason remains unlikely.

Still, Brooklyn is well-positioned heading into the summer, holding multiple first-round picks — including a lottery selection — and projected to have the most cap space of any team in the league.

“We need to be opportunistic,” Marks said. “In this market we’re always going to have various different free agents and opportunities thrown at us, just simply being in a top-five market in the league; that’s going to happen. We don’t want to get sped up.”

Marks noted that Brooklyn has 15 first-round picks over the next six to seven years, giving the front office flexibility to pursue a variety of team-building approaches.

“That could be going all in with whether it’s free agents or trades,” he said, “but it also could be going all in with systematically growing some homegrown talent. We’ve done that in the past and grown some guys here, developed guys here, as well as attracted top-tier talent from elsewhere.”

The last time the Nets operated under the NBA salary cap was in 2019, when they signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency. Marks acknowledged that the league’s cap landscape has shifted since then, making it more difficult to replicate that type of offseason.

“It’s difficult when you’re trying to acquire max-level talent on max contracts,” Marks said. “Those days are probably gone, of going and getting two or three max free agents. Those are gonna be more difficult to do.”