Bobby Marks was let go as Nets assistant general manager in 2015 after 20 years with the organization and had no idea what was next.
Then he started tweeting.
“No, never,” Marks, now an analyst with ESPN, said when asked if he ever thought he would have a future in media.
“I was never on social media. When you work for a team that’s kind of taboo. … It was just salary-cap stuff. I wasn’t breaking down trades or analysis or any of that. I didn’t think there’d be an appetite for that. This is my fifth year doing this and I basically just stumbled on it back in 2015 when I was unemployed and I had no idea what I wanted to do.”
Marks’ brief unemployment came during a time when interest in the NBA was growing infinitely, particularly when it comes to free agency news and rumors — and the salary-cap implications that came with them. That led to a job at Yahoo and now ESPN.
That growing enthusiasm for the league could hit a fever pitch this offseason, even with the NBA Finals injuries to two of the bigger free agents in Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.
As the draft talk subsides over the weekend, it will give way to two weeks of free-agency mania.
The interest in signing Durant remains, and Marks argues the injuries could lead to a more aggressive, unpredictable marketplace with more teams believing one signing could turn them into title contenders.
Wes WilcoxNBAE/Getty Images“It’s opened up the playing field in terms of teams thinking they’ll have more of a chance,” Marks said, referring to the teetering Warriors dynasty. “That’s the reason you saw the Lakers get Anthony Davis over the weekend. With Klay and Durant out most of next season, I think you’ll see teams active because of that and because it’s not a great 2020 free agency class.”
The Knicks were expected to be the team in the middle of all this. Their midseason trade sending Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks opened up room for two max contracts and the organization oozed confidence at nearly every turn as Durant rumors swelled.
“The great thing about this time of year [is] we get to separate fact from fiction and see if two players end up in New York,” said former Hawks general manager and now NBA TV analyst Wes Wilcox, who will be part of the network’s over 30 hours of free-agency coverage starting Thursday.
“Part of the NBA is the unknown. There’s always a situation where injuries can change the plans of players and that’s where it’s hard for one person or organization to have confidence that anything is a lock in the NBA. … We are going to find out the reality of what those Knicks gambles were.”
Durant remains a possibility, even as the excitement around that signing is dampened by the fact he will miss the entire 2019-20 season with a ruptured Achilles. Kyrie Irving could still be headed to New York, but a different borough, as the Nets have become the favorites for the mercurial point guard. Then there’s Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, Tobias Harris and D’Angelo Russell.
“In general, the interest in the NBA seems to be at an all-time high,” Wilcox said. “It is incredibly fascinating. It consumes all of us this time of year and the whole world of sports. I can’t imagine that any one decision or result impacts the level of interest right now.”
