Nic Claxton

Nets Notes: Clowney, Claxton, Finney-Smith, Thomas

April 13th, 2024 at 6:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The late-season emergence of Noah Clowney has the Nets believing he might develop into an effective power forward alongside Nic Claxton, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Clowney and Claxton have been seeing time on the court together lately in a Twin Towers look that Lewis notes is rare in Brooklyn since Sean Marks took over as general manager in 2016.

“I think the league is kind of [changing] — it’s not all about small-ball anymore,” Claxton said. “You see a lot of teams that have two bigs on the court. They have more size on the court. And that’s an area that we’ve really lacked in the past, so maybe that can fix our problems.”

At 19, Clowney is the league’s fourth-youngest player and he needed time to develop his game in the G League after being selected with the 21st pick in last year’s draft. He has appeared in just 22 NBA games and has only been used alongside Claxton in eight of those, but there are signs that they can work together. They combined for 12 blocked shots Wednesday against Toronto, and they’ve been the team’s best two-man combination at +22.8 heading into Friday night.

“If we can figure out how to be real efficient offensively — because we know we can defensively — but if we can figure out how to do it offensively,” Clowney said, “then I think we can be real dangerous together.”

There’s more from Brooklyn:

If the Nets view Clowney as a rotation player for next season, that could influence their offseason plans, Lewis adds. Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith have split time at power forward for most of the season, but both are undersized for the position and Clowney could make one of them expendable. Sources tell Lewis that the Nets turned down offers for Finney-Smith at the last two trade deadlines. He’ll turn 31 next month and is signed for $14.9MM next season with a $15.4MM player option for 2025/26.
Claxton, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer, tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that the chance to negotiate a new contract comes at a perfect time. “I feel great. I’m in a great situation,” he said. “These past couple of years have been really good. I somewhat gambled on myself with a shorter contract, and it’s all paying off.” Scotto views Claxton, who’s in the final season of a two-year, $17.25MM deal, as the top center on the free agent market. Claxton adds that “being a playoff team and winning games” will factor into his decision.
Cam Thomas believes his improved performance is a result of getting regular playing time (video link from Erik Slater of Clutch Points). Thomas more than doubled his scoring average in his third NBA season, bringing it to 22.5 PPG in 65 games. “You can’t really develop anywhere if you don’t play,” he said. “… So this year, I really took the reps I got and made the most of them. … First two years, I’m in and out of the lineup, I don’t know when I’m gonna play again. … This year, I’m playing.”

Central Notes: Mitchell, Cavs, Wade, Pistons

April 1st, 2024 at 1:45pm CST by Rory Maher

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was “angrier than he has been all season” following Sunday’s blowout loss to the Nuggets in Denver, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required). The latest defeat was the culmination of a month filled with injuries and poor play, as Cleveland went just 7-10 in March.

“I told you at the beginning of the season, if we had these struggles at this point then it’s a problem,” Mitchell said, referencing an early-November conversation in Oklahoma City after Cleveland dropped to 3-5. “It can’t happen. I can say all this now. We have to find a way to figure it out. It’s not going to linger after tonight. Have to watch the film and get back to what we do. But it can’t happen. We can all point to s–t. It’s April. It’s (expletive) April. We’ve got to figure it out. And we will.”

While he refused to use his knee issue as an excuse, the 27-year-old clearly isn’t 100% physically, according to Fedor, who notes that Mitchell’s numbers are down across the board since he first started dealing with the injury. Normally one of the most explosive players in the league, Mitchell can’t beat defenders off the dribble at the moment, is having his shots blocked more often, and is taking far more threes than normal, Fedor adds.

“I’m working back into it. That’s natural. I’m not worried about it. Just continue to build the reps and build the mental confidence in it,” Mitchell said when asked if he was playing at less than full strength. “At the end of the day I’m fine. I have to play better. We all have to play better. I’m not going to sit here and point to that. Everybody else is going to look at it like that. But it’s April. Gotta be better.”

Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he hasn’t discussed the possibility of resting Mitchell at times down the stretch to give the knee more time to heal, but acknowledged “it’s a conversation we will have to have.” Mitchell said the team isn’t in panic mode yet and he still believes in the group.

“I would say it’s more so of a mindset of let’s figure it out as opposed to concern,” Mitchell said, per Fedor. “I think concern breeds anxiety and stress. I don’t think we are at that point. I don’t want to go like, ‘Oh we’re panicking.’ We’re not there. I think it’s just we have to figure it out and we have the capability to do it. I have the utmost confidence in our group and everybody to do that.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

Cavaliers forward Dean Wade may miss the rest of the regular season with a knee sprain, sources tell Fedor (subscriber link). One of the team’s top defenders, Wade last played on March 8. While he has been making progress in recent days, there’s no guarantee the 27-year-old will be back in time for the playoffs, according to Fedor.
In a mailbag column, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic says he expects the last-place Pistons to undergo a major roster overhaul in the offseason. Edwards believes Detroit needs to prioritize shooting and defense this summer, and lists Tobias Harris, Nic Claxton, and Paul George as three potential free agents to keep an eye on, though he acknowledges George is a “long shot.”
The Pistons entered the season with high expectations, and have fallen well short of their goals on almost every level, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). Considering they only won 17 games last year and may finish with the worst record in franchise history in 2023/24, it’s clear that significant changes are needed. Sankofa takes stock of the season and considers how Detroit may look to rectify some of its mistakes going forward.

New York Notes: Claxton, Clowney, Anunoby, Hartenstein

March 23rd, 2024 at 1:37pm CST by Rory Maher

Nets center Nic Claxton only attempted three shots in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee, which was a season low, and the team would be wise to get him more involved before he hits unrestricted free agency this offseason, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required).

“I’m open a lot,” Claxton told the Post. “I’ve just got to keep putting myself in the right spots and hope that I get the ball.”

According to Lewis, Claxton has been Brooklyn’s most consistent player in 2023/24, and has shown improvement as a play-maker and in the pick-and-roll, with interim head coach Kevin Ollie calling the 24-year-old the team’s “hub.”

“He’s a great passer. He’s unselfish,” Ollie said of Claxton. “We run a lot of our backside action with him with the ball, some of our high frequencies of offensive possessions, of our (dribble hand-offs) with him handling it, and then him being able to hand it off to Dennis (Schröder) or Mikal (Bridges), then him rolling behind that and getting some lobs, which has been great.

“Him doing those different things has allowed us to play freer basketball. I’m gonna continue to allow him to do that. I allow him to push the ball up the court, take advantages there. I just want him to play unlocked basketball and continue to be our hub. But with freedom comes discipline, too. He has to take care of the ball and continue to do those certain things as well.”

However, as Lewis writes, if Claxton’s lack of touches continues, it’s possible he might begin to question his role and future with the Nets. According to Lewis’ sources, Claxton is expected to command $20MM+ annually on the open market this summer.

Here are a few more notes on the league’s two New York-based teams:

Rookie big man Noah Clowney had one of the better outings of his young career on Thursday vs. Milwaukee, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds while showcasing an ability to switch across multiple positions on defense, per Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily. The Nets were plus-10 in Clowney’s 14 minutes. He has only appeared in 11 games for an average of 9.1 MPG, having spent most of his rookie campaign in the G League with Long Island. While some fans have been clamoring for Clowney to play power forward instead of center, Kaplan says in the long run the 19-year-old’s overall development is much more important than the position he ends up playing in the future.
Knicks forward OG Anunoby was ruled out for his third straight game on Saturday vs. the Nets, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Anunoby is dealing with soreness in his surgically repaired elbow, with the team officially listing him out for right elbow injury management. It’s unclear when the impending free agent will return to action — he played three games last week before the elbow flared up, and while it’s reportedly improving, he continues to be sidelined for now.
He isn’t quite the defender Mitchell Robinson is, but Isaiah Hartenstein is a much better passer and he’s done an admirable job filling in as the Knicks‘ starting center, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). Another impending free agent, Hartenstein said he tries to make a positive impact no matter what his role is. “I tell everyone in the NBA you always have to sacrifice,” Hartenstein said. “Before, especially when we had Julius (Randle), we had all those guys, I had a kind of different role. Now I’m playing how I’m used to playing.”

New York Notes: Claxton, Nets, Johnson, Anunoby

March 14th, 2024 at 9:35am CST by Dana Gauruder

Nic Claxton is headed to free agency after the season and Nets interim coach Kevin Ollie wants his center to continue showing growth as an offensive threat. He’s averaging 15.0 points and 3.1 assists in seven games this month, Jared Schwartz of the New York Post notes.

“I want [Claxton] to be unlocked, I don’t want him to be in a box offensively,” Ollie said. “I want him to do all kinds of things on the court because he’s doing everything on the defensive end for us — blocking shots, rebounding. We need to throw him the ball, but he needs to demand the ball as well. I’m telling our guards, ‘We gotta reward the big fella, because he’s doing a lot of cleaning up for us on the defensive end.’ When he does have two feet in the paint and he’s established, he should be getting the ball.”

We have more on the New York teams:

The Nets have dropped three of their four games during their current road trip and Wednesday’s 114-106 loss at Orlando was troubling, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. They trailed by double digits three minutes into the contest and never recovered. They’re now 3.5 games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot. “The same thing that’s been going on just this last stretch: We didn’t make shots and our energy just wasn’t where it needed to be,” Claxton said. “It’s frustrating, man. It’s not easy. It’s frustrating. Nobody likes losing, like I always say. But we’ve just got to get ready for Indiana (on Saturday).”
Cameron Johnson was one of the few bright spots for the Nets on Wednesday, Lewis notes. He returned after missing three games due to an ankle sprain and contributed 13 points, three rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. “We’re going to always look at what’s best for the team,” Ollie said. “I just thought he took care of his minutes, finished the game for us and, you know, that’s what I want him to understand.”
Knicks forward OG Anunoby is glad he opted for right elbow surgery, according to Peter Botte of The New York Post. In his return on Tuesday, he played 29 minutes and posted 14 points and four rebounds against Philadelphia. “It’s a lot better than it was the month of January,” Anunoby said. “I’m happy. Should get better and better.” Anunoby is expected to decline his $19.9MM contract option for next season in order to become an unrestricted free agent, though a new deal with New York is considered the most likely outcome.

Nets Notes: Bridges, Thomas, Claxton, Johnson

March 12th, 2024 at 6:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cam Thomas returned from an ankle sprain for the last two Nets games and it’s had a positive effect on their top player, Mikal Bridges, according to The New York Post’s Brian Lewis.

Thomas had 29 points and five assists in a win over Cleveland on Sunday, while Bridges had his best offensive output in five games, supplying 25 points and five assists. Bridges shot 9-for-14 from the field.

“It was good for Mikal, too, to see some shots go in, and coming off the curl, playing off [Thomas], just taking the pressure off himself and stepping up,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “He puts so much work in, so I know those seeds that he’s planted are going to bloom and blossom at some point.”

We have more on the Nets:

Speaking of Thomas, the team is looking for him to be a more well-rounded player instead of just being known as a scorer, Lewis writes. He showed signs of that against the Cavaliers. “Yeah, we challenged him about the EGBs [energy-generating behaviors]. He had seven rebounds, five assists. So it wasn’t all his scoring,” Ollie said. “He was contributing in other ways, and that’s great to see. I want him to keep that up. We’re gonna keep challenging him. We want him to be a masterpiece on the offensive end and a masterpiece on a defensive end. And he can do it. But we’ve got to keep challenging [him].”
Thomas is extension-eligible this offseason and it’ll be tough to attach a dollar figure to him due to his reputation as a one-dimensional player, Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily.com opines. Meanwhile, unrestricted free agent Nic Claxton will be one of the top players on the market. Claxton is the team’s defensive stalwart but his inconsistent performances sometimes lead to bad losses, Kaplan writes.
Forward Cameron Johnson has been upgraded to probable for the team’s road game against the Magic on Wednesday, Lewis tweets. Johnson has missed the last three games.

New York Notes: Hart, DiVincenzo, Simmons, Claxton

March 3rd, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

With so many regulars missing due to injuries, the Knicks have been leaning heavily on forward Josh Hart, who has played at least 40 minutes in six of the team’s past seven games, including 47:10 in Thursday’s loss to Golden State. After admitting earlier in the season that his Team USA stint last summer might be catching up with him, Hart has welcomed the extra playing time and shown no signs of hitting a wall, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post.

“At the end of the day as a competitor I want to play,” Hart said following Thursday’s game. “If I went out, especially if we were making a run and I got (taken) out, I’m mad. You know what I mean? I want to play as much as I can.”

Head coach Tom Thibodeau told Botte and other reporters that he’s “always talking” to Hart about his workload and that he’s pleased with how the 28-year-old has responded to his increased role.

“He’s handled it well,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we’re shorthanded right now so that’s what’s required. But (he had) 18 rebounds, seven assists (on Thursday). And he’s a great defender, so we need him right now.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

While Donte DiVincenzo is a long shot to suit up for Italy in this year’s Olympics, the Knicks wing said in a conversation with Simone Sandri of Gazzetta Dello Sport that he hopes to represent the national team in the years to come, even if he can’t get his Italian passport in time for Paris this summer.
Fred Katz of The Athletic examines a few areas of concern for the Knicks, including the offensive production from the first unit and all the teams that are right on their heels in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Nets guard/forward Ben Simmons missed a third consecutive game on Saturday due to left leg soreness, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Simmons has been limited to 15 appearances in 2023/24, including just 10 since playing the first five games of the season.
The Nets only have a couple more months to experiment with the way they use Nic Claxton before they’ll have to pay up to retain him in free agency, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required). As Lewis details, Claxton and Simmons have remained altogether incompatible in their minutes sharing the court, and while Simmons was a major part of Brooklyn’s game plan entering this season, Claxton now looks like the player who will be a bigger part of the franchise’s plans going forward.

Southwest Notes: Morant, Claxton, Zeller, Luka, Washington

March 1st, 2024 at 1:50pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets‘ trip to Memphis earlier this week wasn’t exactly a homecoming for Nic Claxton, but it gave him an opportunity to see some familiar faces, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, who notes that Claxton played AAU ball in his native South Carolina with Grizzlies star Ja Morant and Morant’s close friend Davonte Pack.

“Playing that last year of AAU with (Morant) and seeing where he is now with his career and everything he has achieved so early, it’s definitely good to see,” Claxton said. “… I didn’t see him being the player that he is now with the athleticism. He was always talented, skilled, could always really pass the ball. When he got that athleticism, he just started to take off.”

As Cole notes, Claxton – who has worn Morant’s signature shoe this season – will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and the Grizzlies will be in the market for help at center after trading away Steven Adams and Xavier Tillman. A deal with Claxton may be a long shot, given that Memphis will be well over the salary cap and won’t be in position to offer the young center the type of lucrative deal the Nets can.

Still, Claxton didn’t close the door on the idea – replying, “We’ll see” when asked about the possibility – and Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. didn’t sound opposed to it either, Cole writes.

“He’s good for that team,” Jackson said of Brooklyn’s starting center. “He’s doing his thing. Who knows, man. I can play alongside a lot of different types of players. Credit to what he’s doing over there.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

After beginning the 2022/23 season without an NBA home, Cody Zeller wasn’t sure if his days in the league were coming to an end. However, as Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star relays, Zeller got another shot last February with Miami, which led to a new deal with the Pelicans this past offseason. The veteran big man is happy to be serving as a veteran leader in New Orleans and grateful to still be in the NBA. “I had already had a good career (before joining the Heat last season),” Zeller said. “That gave me a different perspective that each additional game that I play or contract that I get or extra year that I get is icing on the cake. If I can be a good veteran guy even if I’m not playing, I’m totally happy with that, totally cool with that.”
Cautioning Mavericks fans not to take Luka Doncic‘s ongoing greatness for granted, Tim Cato of The Athletic explores the star guard’s case for this season’s MVP award.
Coming off a 23-point game on Wednesday in Toronto – his best performance since joining the Mavericks last month – P.J. Washington is making a case to be Dallas’ third option on offense behind Doncic and Kyrie Irving, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “We would like to be consistent with a third,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “Yes, that would make coaching or being a teammate a little bit easier, knowing who’s going to be there on a consistent basis. And I think P.J. is starting to trend that way.” Kidd added that he believes Washington is “up for the challenge” of being more of an offensive play-maker.

Nets Notes: Struggles, Johnson, Bridges, Koch Family

February 23rd, 2024 at 6:52pm CST by Rory Maher

In their first game under interim head coach Kevin Ollie on Thursday in Toronto, the Nets had yet another listless performance, losing by 28 points to the Raptors, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Ollie replaced Jacque Vaughn, who was fired in part due to the team’s lack of energy and effort, with Brooklyn just 8-24 over its past 32 games.

Ollie made playing with energy and hustle a priority in his first practice on Tuesday, but the Nets repeatedly failed to get back in transition in the blowout loss, Lewis notes, losing the fast-break points battle 46-10.

“We didn’t make shots, but their effort, their energy, loose balls, offensive rebounds, beat us in probably every area,” said Ollie. “And giving up 46 fast-break points and not being able to stop them and limit them in half-court situations was a killer for us.”

Here are a few more notes out of Brooklyn:

Ollie made a change to the starting lineup on Thursday, moving fifth-year forward Cameron Johnson to the bench, Lewis writes in another story. The starting five consisted of Ben Simmons, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton. It was only the second time Johnson has come off the bench this season, with the first coming just before the All-Star break in his first game back from an adductor injury. The 27-year-old, who re-signed with the Nets on a lucrative long-term contract last summer, finished with six points on 1-of-7 shooting in 21 minutes.
Appearing on the podcast (Roommates Show) of his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, who now play for the Knicks, Nets wing Mikal Bridges compared the two teams’ situations unprompted, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link), who wonders if Bridges would ever consider asking out of Brooklyn. “I know people might want to think about different situations and teams,” Bridges said. “Obviously, I’ve got my boys over there in New York, so everybody goes with that. ….” Bridges went on to say he wanted to keep playing for the Nets, despite their struggles. Bondy acknowledges that “it’s entirely plausible — and understandable — if the Nets simply refuse to trade their best player across the river,” but argues that if it was a possibility for New York, it’d be an idea worth pursuing.
Billionaire Julia Koch is negotiating to buy a minority stake in the Nets, per Lewis and Josh Kosman of The New York Post. Koch’s son David Koch Jr. would also be involved. The stake could be as high as 15%, from majority owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai. According to The Post, Julia has an estimated net worth of $60-65 billion, which would make her the second-wealthiest woman in the world and only trailing Clippers owner Steve Ballmer in the NBA.

Atlantic Notes: Ollie, Thomas, Beverley, Lowry, Raptors

February 22nd, 2024 at 10:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Ollie will offer some strategic changes when he makes his debut as head coach of the Nets tonight in Toronto, but he’s focused mainly on bringing a new attitude to the team, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Ollie, who came to Brooklyn as an assistant at the start of the season, was promoted to the job on an interim basis after Jacque Vaughn was fired Monday.

“The biggest thing is playing for each other and making the right plays,” Ollie said. “Not being selfish, getting the ball to the guys that we need to get the ball to in their right spots where they can be very successful. Just playing the right way, and we need to do that more consistently. So that’s not a scheme change or anything, that’s just playing better basketball, doing simple better.”

Ollie is expected to emphasize better spacing on offense, Lewis adds. That has been a problem, especially in the limited time that Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton have been on the court together. Lewis notes that Brooklyn is minus-34 and is shooting just 42.6% as a team in the duo’s 69 total minutes this season.

“You have to be able to space, you have to be able to cut, you have to be able to play together. We have to get out and rebound and get stops so they can play with pace and play in transition offense,” Ollie said. “So all those things count. But when it gets bogged down in a half-court situation, we haven’t had that situation where one’s up, one’s down and how they play off each other is crucial. So that’s why it’s so good for practice time.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

With Ollie in charge of the Nets, Cam Thomas should get a fresh chance to prove that he’s worthy of a starting role, Lewis states in a separate story. The explosive guard is averaging 21.2 PPG, but Vaughn often limited his playing time due to concerns about defense and energy. Thomas thought the report of a coaching change was a prank when he read about it on the internet, and he didn’t believe the story until general manager Sean Marks confirmed it. “We didn’t get enough wins. … And [we were] dropping some games, not playing as hard,” Thomas said. “It’s on both parties, coaches, players, front office, everybody. Got to look at yourself in the mirror; so that’s just what we got to do.”
Patrick Beverley has been taking shots at his former team on his podcast since being traded to Milwaukee, but the Sixers are choosing to ignore them, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Coach Nick Nurse and Kyle Lowry, who’s taking over Beverley’s role in Philadelphia, have been among the targets. “I’m not a podcast watcher, but he’s a friend of mine and that’s his competitive nature,” Lowry said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play against him, as always.”
Eric Koreen of The Athletic looks at late-season storylines to watch for the Raptors, including whether tanking will be an option, the roles for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, and which players will show that they should be re-signed this summer.

Nets Notes: Vaughn, Ollie, Marks, Bridges, Budenholzer

February 21st, 2024 at 11:45am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking on Tuesday to reporters, including ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Nets general manager Sean Marks said there wasn’t a single event or game that made the team decide to fire head coach Jacque Vaughn. While some Brooklyn players expressed frustration following a December 27 loss in which the team sat several regulars, as well as after last Wednesday’s 50-point blowout loss in Boston, Marks pointed to a general lack of energy and effort when asked for specifics on what went into the decision to dismiss Vaughn.

“It’s about the level of compete,” Marks said. “We’re not going to be the most talented team in the league. I’m not an idiot. I totally understand that. But at the same time, this is a talented group of young men out there. And my expectations, and I think their expectations, should be to hold each other accountable to do the little things. The effort plays, the loose balls, the contested shots and so forth, diving on the floor.

“These are things that should be expected when you’re in a place that we’re at right now, where we’re clawing and grappling for every single thing we can. That’s what I would hope to see over these next 28 games, and that’s probably, to be quite frank, some things I haven’t seen. The level of effort and the level of compete has not always been there.”

New interim head coach Kevin Ollie made that lack of energy and hustle a focus in his first practice with the club on Tuesday, as Bontemps details. Ollie pointed out that the Nets don’t recover enough loose balls or draw enough charges, referring to the team’s poor numbers in those categories as “losing basketball.”

“I got something called EGBs, which is energy generating behaviors, and it’s 17 behaviors of those things. And we went through the list extensively today,” Ollie said on Tuesday. “(They) have nothing to do with talent but everything to do with heart and will. And I think that’s what it comes down to.

“Remember, I played 15 years professionally, 13 years in this league, and never once (had) a coach call a play for me. I had to get it with grit. I had to get it with determination. I had to get it with a mindset that we’re going to get better each and every day. That’s how I coach, that’s what I’m going to demand. I want them to demand that from me, and that’s from day one.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

Marks is under contract beyond this season, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv, and the veteran Nets executive has a close relationship with team owner Joe Tsai. Marks told reporters on Tuesday that he has been given no indication Tsai won’t keep him around to run the team’s latest head coaching search this spring. “Joe and I have always been in complete partnership,” Marks said, per Bontemps. “And it doesn’t mean we always agree. I mean, you have to have good discussions and robust discussions, but Joe and I will make this decision, and he has given me no reason to believe that I won’t be able to make that decision.”
Still, Marks’ future with the Nets has been a subject of speculation around the NBA, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype said on the HoopsHype podcast with Brian Lewis of The New York Post. According to Scotto, in the event that Marks remains in Brooklyn, one possibility floated in league circles is a scenario in which the Nets promote assistant general manager Jeff Peterson to GM and give him more day-to-day responsibilities while Marks stays above him in the front office hierarchy.
Scotto and Lewis discussed many more Nets-related topics in the HoopsHype podcast, including the futures of players like Nic Claxton, Cam Thomas, and Ben Simmons in Brooklyn, Scotto also said there were rumblings that certain players – including Mikal Bridges and former Net Spencer Dinwiddie – weren’t thrilled by the fact that Vaughn’s offensive game plan focused so heavily on Simmons, who hasn’t been healthy for most of his time in Brooklyn.
Bridges said on Tuesday that he wants to remain in Brooklyn long-term, per Dan Martin of The New York Post. “I’m here now and want to stay here,” Bridges said. “And I’m going to keep grinding and getting to wherever we’ve got to get to win, and that’s why I’m here for.” The Nets turned away trade inquiries this season on Bridges and their goal is to ultimately acquire a star or two to play alongside him, per Scotto.
In a pair of stories for The New York Post, Mike Vaccaro wonders what it will take for the Nets to move on from Marks, while Zach Braziller identifies several potential candidates for Brooklyn’s permanent head coaching job. That list begins with Mike Budenholzer, whose name is “at the tip of everyone’s tongue” in discussing possible candidates, according to Scotto.

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