The Brooklyn Nets are a big mess right now as they will miss the playoffs and don't have a draft pick for the next three years. New general manager Sean Marks was brought into Brooklyn to try and get the team out of this hole they have dug, but he has a lot of work to do.
The Nets have shown interest in trying to acquire draft picks for some of their players, but they don't have many guys worth trading for. The two guys that make the most sense for teams to trade for are Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, but they also happen to be the Nets' two best players.
Marks certainly has some tough decisions to make regarding both of those players, however, it seems as though he has assured Lopez he is part of the team's future.
"He has talked to me, and we both definitely want to be here and see things happen here, and help the team grow going forward," Lopez said. "He said he wanted to sit down, get lunch, dinner, something like that, and talk about what I see going forward, what his plans are, I guess prepping already."
Lopez has been on the trade block for much of his career with the Nets and, at times, it even seemed likely he would be gone. There was the whole Dwight Howard situation where it seemed Lopez would be going to Orlando and, even as recently as last season, he was almost traded to the Thunder for Reggie Jackson.
Through that all though, Lopez has stayed with the Nets, showing his loyalty by signing a three-year deal last offseason. The 28-year-old center has been shut down for the rest of this season as a precaution, but he had one of the best seasons of his career and will come out of it healthy, which is huge.
Marks assuring Lopez he is in the team's plans doesn't guarantee he will be back next season, but it does seem likely. Lopez is one of the top centers in the NBA and should be part of the Nets plans, but there has always been talk of trading him for future assets and going through a full rebuild. Owner Mikhail Prokhorov has been against a full rebuild, but some would suggest that is exactly what the Nets need.
With this assurance given to Lopez, that might mean Young could possibly be headed out this offseason. He had a solid season for the Nets and drew a lot of trade interest at the deadline, so that will likely be the case again this offseason. Young's contract is reasonable and he is just 27 years old, so the Nets may be able to get a first-round pick out of him if they wanted. Whatever direction they decide to go in, Marks has his work cut out for him in his first offseason with the team.
