Nets GM Sean Marks Receives Basketball Executive of the Year Votes

Brooklyn's general manager faces a pivotal summer.

Sep 26, 2022; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks talks to the media during media day at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks was voted as the eighth-best basketball executive in the NBA. Marks received one first place vote, the same as Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens.

Marks is closing in on 10 years as Nets GM. He was officially named to his position on Feb. 18, 2016, by then-owner Mikhail Prokhorov. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Sam Presti and the Miami Heat’s Andy Elisburg are the only general managers to have spent more time in their roles than Marks. Presti was named the 2024-25 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year with 10 first-place votes and 74 total points.

The summer ahead is a crucial one for Marks and the Nets. Brooklyn just completed the first season of a full rebuild, and the 2025 NBA Draft and free agency are right around the corner. 

“I'm excited, I know all of basketball operations is excited, ownership is excited — because this is, as I said before, we're laying down a foundation here of how to build this sustainably into the future, and being part of this journey,” Marks said on April 13. “I'd like to look back in three [or] four years and say, ‘I remember when,’ right?”

Brooklyn’s chief decision maker further stressed the importance of the summer during his end-of-season media appearance. He added that the Nets “know what's at stake this year.”

“It’s just about being opportunistic as to how we build and when we go all-in again, so to speak, and there could be going all-in with [...] free agents or trades, but it also could be go[ing] all-in with systematically growing some homegrown talent,” Marks said. “We've done that in the past and grown some guys here, developed some guys here, as well as attracted top tier talent from elsewhere.”

Nets GM Sean Marks: "So here's what we're gonna do: disagree and commit.

The challenge I have for this group: is this group gonna be the loudest f---ing scouting group I've ever seen?

We are to disagree, and we are committed. Let's have that debate." pic.twitter.com/7QjjH9CopT

— FLOOR and CEILING (Wilko) (@wilkomcv) May 6, 2025

The Nets are currently projected to pick at Nos. 6, 19, 26, 27 and 36 in the draft. Brooklyn’s first pick is still fluid, but it will be Marks’ highest selection since becoming the organization’s shot-caller. The draft lottery on May 12 will determine its exact placement. The Nets’ draft process is being run by assistant general manager B.J. Johnson. Marks praised the former Villanova Wildcat for doing “a heck of a job the last several years.”

“Even though this was my opportunity to finally be in the NBA, when [Marks] offered me my current position, I took a hard look because [Brooklyn] was in dire condition,” Johnson previously wrote. “In the end, I believed in him and his vision, and it was time to transition. I had traveled quite a bit internationally, developing a global view of the game and relationships with younger players getting ready to enter the NBA who I knew would benefit the team.”

The Nets’ pre-draft work is currently being highlighted in a nine-part original documentary series titled ‘SCOUT.’ The first episode was released on May 6, featuring the start of the draft cycle and Marks on a trip to Australia with Nets scout Richard Midgley (also a former Cal point guard).

“The challenge I have for this group: is this group gonna be the loudest [...] scouting group I've ever seen?” Marks says in the first episode. “We are to disagree, and we are committed. Let's have that debate."

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