Around the League

[KiwiMatt]

Haven't the Nets been one of the success stories this season. Three years ago that franchise was dead and buried. Now they're 6th seed in the East. Impressive considering they've being missing arguable their best player in Caris LaVert.

Sean Marks got dealt arguably the worst hand in GM sporting history three years ago when he took the job. Now look at them! Impressive. And they also finally have not one but two first round picks in this years draft.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Haven't the Nets been one of the success stories this season. Three years ago that franchise was dead and buried. Now they're 6th seed in the East. Impressive considering they've being missing arguable their best player in Caris LaVert.

Sean Marks got dealt arguably the worst hand in GM sporting history three years ago when he took the job. Now look at them! Impressive. And they also finally have not one but two first round picks in this years draft.

Savvy front office moves to restock the cupboards and an emphasis on player development has turned them around drastically. I've been a distant admirer/fan of that organization since Marks took over. You know when you're playing 2K in franchise mode and you're looking for the worst team to start with because it will give you the most fun in turning them around? That's the feeling I got with the Nets years ago after the Celtics trades and them really having no nucleus.

They turned it all around because they hit with their draft picks and utilized their cap space to absorb bad contracts in exchange for prospects and/or picks. And they did it almost flawlessly.

Think about a couple of deals that Marks pulled off. He initially offered Allen Crabbe a sizable contract, the Blazers matched, and then one year later they needed to offload him due to some poor cap management on their part (Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard) and the Nets took him on for the price of a first round pick.

The Nets made a similar move when they scooped up DeMarre Carroll from the Raptors in exchange for a first-round pick. And wouldn't you know it, Carroll bounced back to being a quality rotation player.

Oh, and my favorite, they turned Brook Lopez and a late first-round pick into D'Angelo Russell and ate Timofey Mosgov's bad contract in the process. Now Russell is an All-Star at the age of 23 and a legitimate cornerstone for that franchise.

Pair that with hitting on other mid/late picks such as Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert (who always had lottery talent and production, but happened to be coming off an injury when he entered the draft) and you have three very solid/good pieces to build around.

The kicker is they've done all of this without having a lottery pick to their name.

[Monster]

Haven't the Nets been one of the success stories this season. Three years ago that franchise was dead and buried. Now they're 6th seed in the East. Impressive considering they've being missing arguable their best player in Caris LaVert.

Sean Marks got dealt arguably the worst hand in GM sporting history three years ago when he took the job. Now look at them! Impressive. And they also finally have not one but two first round picks in this years draft.

Savvy front office moves to restock the cupboards and an emphasis on player development has turned them around drastically. I've been a distant admirer/fan of that organization since Marks took over. You know when you're playing 2K in franchise mode and you're looking for the worst team to start with because it will give you the most fun in turning them around? That's the feeling I got with the Nets years ago after the Celtics trades and them really having no nucleus.

They turned it all around because they hit with their draft picks and utilized their cap space to absorb bad contracts in exchange for prospects and/or picks. And they did it almost flawlessly.

Think about a couple of deals that Marks pulled off. He initially offered Allen Crabbe a sizable contract, the Blazers matched, and then one year later they needed to offload him due to some poor cap management on their part (Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard) and the Nets took him on for the price of a first round pick.

The Nets made a similar move when they scooped up DeMarre Carroll from the Raptors in exchange for a first-round pick. And wouldn't you know it, Carroll bounced back to being a quality rotation player.

Oh, and my favorite, they turned Brook Lopez and a late first-round pick into D'Angelo Russell and ate Timofey Mosgov's bad contract in the process. Now Russell is an All-Star at the age of 23 and a legitimate cornerstone for that franchise.

Pair that with hitting on other mid/late picks such as Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert (who always had lottery talent and production, but happened to be coming off an injury when he entered the draft) and you have three very solid/good pieces to build around.

The kicker is they've done all of this without having a lottery pick to their name.

You laid it out well. It's abso been impressive and think of the guys like Joe Harris and Dinwiddie that were absolutely scrap heap guys they have turned into high level rotation players. I think Marks has been fantastic but Kenny Atkinson has to get some legit credit too. I think Allen Crabbe is about the only guy I can think of that wasn't better playing for him.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Haven't the Nets been one of the success stories this season. Three years ago that franchise was dead and buried. Now they're 6th seed in the East. Impressive considering they've being missing arguable their best player in Caris LaVert.

Sean Marks got dealt arguably the worst hand in GM sporting history three years ago when he took the job. Now look at them! Impressive. And they also finally have not one but two first round picks in this years draft.

Savvy front office moves to restock the cupboards and an emphasis on player development has turned them around drastically. I've been a distant admirer/fan of that organization since Marks took over. You know when you're playing 2K in franchise mode and you're looking for the worst team to start with because it will give you the most fun in turning them around? That's the feeling I got with the Nets years ago after the Celtics trades and them really having no nucleus.

They turned it all around because they hit with their draft picks and utilized their cap space to absorb bad contracts in exchange for prospects and/or picks. And they did it almost flawlessly.

Think about a couple of deals that Marks pulled off. He initially offered Allen Crabbe a sizable contract, the Blazers matched, and then one year later they needed to offload him due to some poor cap management on their part (Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard) and the Nets took him on for the price of a first round pick.

The Nets made a similar move when they scooped up DeMarre Carroll from the Raptors in exchange for a first-round pick. And wouldn't you know it, Carroll bounced back to being a quality rotation player.

Oh, and my favorite, they turned Brook Lopez and a late first-round pick into D'Angelo Russell and ate Timofey Mosgov's bad contract in the process. Now Russell is an All-Star at the age of 23 and a legitimate cornerstone for that franchise.

Pair that with hitting on other mid/late picks such as Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert (who always had lottery talent and production, but happened to be coming off an injury when he entered the draft) and you have three very solid/good pieces to build around.

The kicker is they've done all of this without having a lottery pick to their name.

You laid it out well. It's abso been impressive and think of the guys like Joe Harris and Dinwiddie that were absolutely scrap heap guys they have turned into high level rotation players. I think Marks has been fantastic but Kenny Atkinson has to get some legit credit too. I think Allen Crabbe is about the only guy I can think of that wasn't better playing for him.

The nets shoote the importance of a smart front office and a good coach with a plan. Basically the opposite of the wolves.

[Porckchop]

Watched the Lakers /Sixers game today, what I took away from the game is that JJ Reddick is a heck of a basketball player.

[60WinTim]

Ahh... but the Lakers lost to the Hawks tonight. That would be a klunker for a team looking at the 8th seed.

Not that it matters for the Wolves. They need a lot more than a klunker here and there to make things interesting...

[Monster]

Ahh... but the Lakers lost to the Hawks tonight. That would be a klunker for a team looking at the 8th seed.

Not that it matters for the Wolves. They need a lot more than a klunker here and there to make things interesting...

Alex Len was 3 of 4 from three.

[Coolbreeze44]

Can't get enough of Jimmy "Choke" Butler losing again in a close one at home to the "Irving-less" Boston Celtics. Our favorite son missed 2 of 3 free throws and of course the potential game tying basket at the buzzer. Nothing new here but it doesn't get old.

[Monster]

Can't get enough of Jimmy "Choke" Butler losing again in a close one at home to the "Irving-less" Boston Celtics. Our favorite son missed 2 of 3 free throws and of course the potential game tying basket at the buzzer. Nothing new here but it doesn't get old.

Cool I'm thinking you should get a red T-shirt printed up that says "Choke the Official Soft Drink of Jimmy Butler". :)

[Coolbreeze44]

Can't get enough of Jimmy "Choke" Butler losing again in a close one at home to the "Irving-less" Boston Celtics. Our favorite son missed 2 of 3 free throws and of course the potential game tying basket at the buzzer. Nothing new here but it doesn't get old.

Cool I'm thinking you should get a red T-shirt printed up that says "Choke the Official Soft Drink of Jimmy Butler". :)

Yes! Mass produce that shirt!