LAS VEGAS — Nets general manager Sean Marks admitted losing out on his top two summer targets — restricted free agents Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson — was frustrating.
But it wasn’t unexpected.
Now he’s preaching patience from Brooklyn fans, saying the Nets will just move on to Plan B — granted, it looks more like Plan G — in their slow build, instead of a quick fix.
“Yeah it’s definitely disappointing not to have those two guys,’’ said Marks. “But at the same time, we’re excited that those guys chose the Nets to sign offer sheets with. That says a lot about [coach Kenny Atkinson] and his staff and the vision set forth. We’ll go back at it again. There’s certainly a Plan B, and that’s in progress right now, which we’re excited about.”
Marks had to watch Portland match his four-year, $75 million offer sheet to Crabbe, and Miami his four-year, $50 million deal with Johnson. He understood the risk in targeting restricted free agents; but without control of their own first-round pick until 2019, it’s a risk he had to take.
“We expected that. There’s no secret we were going after two top-tier guys, guys we valued, that are 24 years old, that can be part of a program a building program from the foundation all the way up. We would’ve been excited to have them, but when you’re dealt the hand that we have, and we don’t have a whole lot of young assets in terms of picks, that’s the way we’ve got to go do it, play within the rules.
“We have to have patience. That’s the whole deal. When we came here, we said this isn’t going to be a quick fix. We’ve never said this is something that’s going to be turned around in three, four months. This is something where we’re going to take our time. We’re going to be systematic and strategic.”
Marks added Greivis Vasquez on a team-friendly one-year, $5 million deal that left $31 million in cap room. But in a picked-over market, don’t expect him to throw cash around like a Vegas gambler intent on blowing his winnings.
Despite being $20 million under the cap floor, Marks said he wasn’t in a rush to meet it. (Any excess funds would be distributed evenly among the players).
“At some point we have to get there,’’ Marks said. “But it’s not immediate right now. We’re not just going to go out and spend for the sake of spending. It’s about us doing the right things at the right times. Who knows what’ll happen? We have a lot of flexibility next year, so hopefully I’m standing in front of you next year with a couple guys who sign offer sheets that didn’t get matched.”
The Nets are mulling whether to give Dion Waiters an offer sheet, and have shown interest in Terrence Jones, Jordan Hill and Moe Harkless, the former St. John’s star. Lance Stephenson, who played at Brooklyn’s Lincoln High School, is also available.
“Contingency plans. There are a lot of other good players out there. We’re going to find them. I liked our strategy, I liked what we did and it didn’t work out. So now we’ve obviously planned for this type of situation,’’ said Atkinson, acknowledging the Nets are in the market for wing players.
“The more versatile the better … if they can play either wing position. Obviously there’s not a million guys out there right now, so we’re going to have to contingency plan and figure it out with the guys that are out there. But there are still some good players out there. So hopefully we get them.”
But with Stephenson comes baggage, including an assault charge stemming from an incident his rookie season with the Pacers, and Nets assistant Jacque Vaughn had problems with Harkless when Vaughn was head coach in Orlando. Marks stressed that character is important.
“We’re always going to think twice. But you have to see where those scales tip,’’ he said. “Obviously there are guys out there who have a heck of a lot of talent, but maybe they do have somewhat of a checkered past. But for us we’re not going to deviate a whole lot.
“We want guys in here that not only the group, the ownership, the staff of the Nets can be proud of, but the community can be proud of. That’s important.”