Can the Nets be rebuilt into a title contender again?

Two games into the post-Kevin Durant era in Brooklyn, one thing is certain for the Nets. They are a team with a lot of grit.

The Nets have played two competitive and entertaining games since the blockbuster trade last Thursday that sent them into an entirely different direction organizationally. The expectation remains for the team to make the playoffs — those were general manager Sean Marks’ words — but competing for an NBA title again is going to be a few years away.

The question now is can Marks and the front office put the pieces back together to create a title team on Atlantic Avenue? The Nets are in a better position than when Marks took over the GM job in 2016 and the vision that Marks originally had got Brooklyn back to the playoffs three seasons later.

“I think we have this front office and this organization, and honestly with Joe (Tsai) and Clara (Wu Tsai), have shown the ability to put full resources behind making Brooklyn the championship contender,” Marks said last week. “That’s exactly what the goal is going to be moving forward here. We’ll go about building it in a little bit different way cause the last time I took over I didn’t have anything. So it definitely looks different. What we’re starting with right now, it looks different.”

Marks didn’t want to call it a “total retool” when he faced reporters Thursday night, and in earnest, Brooklyn does have a solid base to start moving forward with. Mikal Bridges already proved to be the new headliner with a 23-point performance and Spencer Dinwiddie, who was acquired as part of the Kyrie Irving trade, nearly had a buzzer-beater to tie the game at 101.

What’s clear with the current version of the 2022-23 Nets is that it will be a team that competes and plays a gritty style of basketball. Scoring was pretty spread out during Saturday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, with only two of Brooklyn’s starters scoring in double-digits, and that’s the way it will be going forward the rest of the way.

And the additions of Bridges and Dinwiddie, along with Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, have created a much better defensive effort. The 101 points the Nets gave up were the fewest since Jan 8. against the Miami Heat.

“Told the group if we’re able to put ourselves in positions to defending that way on an every night basis we’ll give ourselves a chance to win every single game. Commend our group for really concentrating on the defensive end of the floor, giving ourselves a chance,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said.

Beyond this season the Nets will need to find a way to bring a championship to the borough and a fanbase that has been through some rough times since the franchise moved to Barclays Center 10 years ago. Marks has the benefit of having plenty of draft capital for the next few years.

Brooklyn’s draft future looks like this now: 2023 Suns first-round pick, 2023 Nets first-round pick (HOU can swap),
2023 First-round pick (HOU or 76ers), 2025 Suns first-round pick, 2025 Nets first-round pick (HOU can swap), 2025 Heat second-round pick (top-37 protected), 2026 Nets second-round pick, 2027 76ers first-round pick (top-eight protected), 2027 Suns first-round pick, 2027 Nets first-round pick (HOU can swap), 2027 Mavericks second-round pick, 2028 Nets first-round pick (Can swap with Suns), 2028 Nets second-round pick, 2029 Mavericks first-round pick, 2029 Suns first-round pick, 2029 Nets first-round pick, 2029 Nets second-round pick and 2029 Mavericks second-round pick.

That’s just to name a few and what Marks does from here will be the focus of all of Nets world. And Marks knows that.

“I don’t think we’ve ever taken anything for granted,” the Nets GM said of the fans’ trust. “We’ve got an incredible opportunity to do something in this borough and that hasn’t left me from the minute I wanted to come here and be a part of something, build something here in Brooklyn. Nothing’s changed.

“I think we certainly owe it to these fans on a daily basis. I think that’s the way we approached this is put something out there that the fans can be proud of and find young men that this borough can really get behind.”