New Nets GM Sean Marks took the job on the condition that he have the authority to make moves as he sees fit, writes USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt, who nonetheless wonders how much autonomy Marks will have to rebuild at a pace he sees appropriate. People around the league believe the Nets are anxious to go after a marquee free agent to hasten the team’s climb up the standings, Zillgitt notes. While we wait to find out if owner Mikhail Prokhorov displays more patience than he has to date, see more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks owner James Dolan was agitated after Monday’s loss, a source told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, and the frustration is evident throughout the organization, as Isola details. New York dropped another game Wednesday against the Pacers. “We’re all frustrated. We can’t accept this,” said interim head coach Kurt Rambis after Monday’s game. “For the organization, for our team, ourselves as individuals, the coaching staff. We can’t accept losing. I want players to be angry. I want players to be frustrated. That’s the right attitude to have.”
- Toronto’s offseason defensive upgrades were “huge,” as coach Dwane Casey puts it, but they won’t matter if the Raptors can’t break through and win a playoff series, which the franchise hasn’t done in more than a decade, opines Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
- Sixers GM Sam Hinkie might have lost power to new chairman of basketball operations Jerry Colangelo this season, but Hinkie remains philosophically tied to the idea of his aggressive rebuilding campaign, observes Derek Bodner of Philadelphia magazine.