Marks to New Zealand media: ‘Our window ... getting smaller and smaller and smaller’

Oct 5, 2022 - 2:29 PM

In an interview with NewsHub, a TV news service in his native New Zealand, Thursday, Sean Marks spoke of the Nets upcoming season and the team’s championship window which he admitted was “getting smaller and smaller.”

“I’d be probably crazy to think it doesn’t, but I try not to focus on it’s now or never,” he said. “We have to do it, because then you can be caught up in making some rash decisions, but we know where our window is, and it is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, so for us, it is now,” Marks told Alex Chapman of NewsHub via Zoom.

“We owe it to each other and the players, the organization, the borough of Brooklyn. We’re up for the challenge, I’m not worried about that,” adding that no one wants it more than his new “Big Three” of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons.

Durant, 34 this week, has four years left on his Nets deal, Simmons, 26, has three and Kyrie Irving, 30, is on an expiring deal, but can be extended at up to four years at any point this season. Joe Harris, 31, has two years left on his deal and Nic Claxton, 23, signed a two-year contract this summer.

Marks also spoke about the summer and how things with Kevin Durant’s trade request finally came to a head in Los Angeles on August 22, joking the clearing of the air came with “a bottle of red.” He praised his owner for driving things.

“We were with our owner, Joe Tsai, who was amazing throughout this whole summer,” said Marks. “It was just about us being honest with each other - all of us sitting in a room, looking at each other in the face. Not a lot of words needed to be said.”

Overall, Marks described the summer this way: “It’s been an opportunity to really look in the mirror and debrief in some form or fashion.”

The Nets GM also talked about why he thought Durant’s trade request ultimately fell through.

“I think, at the end of the day, other teams realized they don’t have the assets to give up to acquire arguably the top one-two-three player in the world, who’s on a contract for four years,” he said. “If they’d had to give away their treasure chest, their goals may be reduced.”

Of course, the Nets didn’t waver in their demands either. Now, of course, Durant, Irving and Simmons are working out their chemistry on the court, with the Nets next preseason game Thursday night vs. the Heat at Barclays Center.

“I’d love to see what these guys can do as a group and to be honest, no-one wants that more than them,” he told Chapman. “They want to see what it looks like.”

• Basketball: Kiwi Sean Marks survives challenging NBA off-season to steer Brooklyn Nets’ championship bid - Alex Chapman - NewsHub