Nets general manager sees tremendous upside in drafting young European players to play with Brooklyn Nets

It’s NBA Draft night and the excitement among NBA fans in the arena at the Barclays Center, as well as reporters in the Brooklyn Nets press room is quite apparent. For the last several years, Brooklyn Nets’ fans have been sidelined during the early rounds of the draft because of a trade with the Boston Celtics in 2013 that brought Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry to Brooklyn. If it were not for some fancy maneuvering every year on the part of Nets’ management, Brooklyn wouldn’t have a pick at all until 2019, as its picks were part of the deal with Boston.

Brooklyn Nets 2018 NBA Draft Picks

With the Nets first pick of the night at No. 29, general manager Sean Marks selected Dzanan Musa from Bosnia, who plays for Cedevita of the Croatian League. We don’t generally get news about European players, but Musa happens to be ranked No. 18 in ESPN’s Top 100. Musa, who is 19-years-old, has lived on his own since he was 11-years-old and moved to Croatia to join KK Cedevita at age 15. It's not that many people in the world with that type of initiative.

VIDEO: Sean Marks speaks highly of Dzanan Musa

Next up at No. 40, the Nets selected 20-year-old Rodions Kurucs from Latvia. Marks personally scouted Kurucs while he played with his Spanish league team.

At No. 45, the Nets selected Hamidou Diallo and promptly traded his rights to the Charlotte Hornets.

VIDEO: Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks on Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs

Sean Marks, Nets GM, retains Joe Harris with a two-year deal and deals Nik Stauskas to Portland Trail Blazers

While NBA fans were focused on what LeBron James would ultimately do during the NBA Free Agency period—stay in Cleveland or go to the Los Angeles Lakers or the Philadelphia 76ers-- the Brooklyn Nets were quietly handling their business. The Nets re-signed shooting guard Joe Harris to a two-year, $16 million deal, and a surprise to most, they sent Nik Stauskas to the Portland Trail Blazers in return for its power forward/center Ed Davis for a one-year contract for $4.4 million.

The deal with Portland wasn’t so much a surprise that the Nets would unload Nik Stauskas, but that they would seemingly make out like bandits in the process. Davis, who is known for his great rebounding and defensive skills, fills a hole for the Nets for a one-year veteran’s minimum contract.

Tweets from Trail Blazers’ fans say it all.

Even Portland players and reporters who cover the Trail Blazers were not shy about expressing their feelings about this deal.

Nets' fans, Portland's loss is hopefully your gain.

Dwane Casey agrees to a 5-year deal as Pistons' new head coach

Few people, if any, expected Dwane Casey to be without a head coaching position for the upcoming 2018-19 NBA season after his abrupt firing by the Toronto Raptors on May 11.

And today, that belief proves to be true.

Casey has reached an agreement on a 5-year deal to become the next coach of the Detroit Pistons, league sources tell ESPN.

What’s The 411Sports reported on a recent episode that Casey, along with former Bucks coach, Jason Kidd, had interviewed for the Piston’s head coach position. In the last few days, reports stated that the Pistons had narrowed down its search between Casey and John Beillin of the University of Michigan. Beillin pulled his name from consideration, according to Clutch Points.

However, Casey is no consolation prize, as he is the Raptors all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (397) and the most regular-season game wins (210). Additionally, this past season, Casey led the Raptors to its best season with 59 wins and 23 losses and the No. 1 seed in the NBA Eastern Conference. He was also voted National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year for the 2017-18 season.

VIDEO: Dwane Casey: The mindset of a winning NBA head coach

VIDEO: Dwane Casey talks about changing the mindset of young Toronto Raptors players

In this video, prior to the Toronto Raptors taking on the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center, Toronto Raptors head coach, Dwane Casey, spoke with reporters about:

• Changing team philosophy – improve, new ways to be better
• Trusting the process to break through the ceiling
• Doing the little things
• Jonas Valanciunas maturing as a player
• Understanding his mission in Toronto

JJ Watt has twice demonstrated that he is a full member of the Texas community both on and off the field

What’s The 411Sports’ Athlete of the Week spotlight goes to JJ Watt, a defensive end for the Houston Texans. Watt offered to pay for the funerals of the Santa Fe shooting victims.

Ten people were killed on the morning of May 18, 2018, and 10 more were wounded when a 17-year-old carrying a shotgun and revolver opened fire at the high school about 30 miles from downtown Houston.

Watt is demonstrating that he has a heart the size of Texas; If you recall, Watt raised over $37 million to aid the recovery from Hurricane Harvey in Houston last year.

After a snafu, ESPN's Jalen Rose will make sure to check his notes when he talks about the Brooklyn Nets

ESPN analyst Jalen Rose displayed on national TV that he really doesn't know that much about the Brooklyn Nets when he made a statement about the lack of camaraderie among Brooklyn Nets players.

Rose said on his ESPN show, Get Up, rather smugly I might add: 

“I promise you, the Nets —they play right here in Brooklyn— Those players are not exchanging texts with each other this offseason.”

Nets players responded swiftly to Rose demonstrating that he's misinformed.

Jeremy Lin was the first Brooklyn Nets player to respond on Twitter:

"Hmm Jalen much respect to you but no idea where this came from lol. I just had the whole team over for a fat bbq last week."

Oops!

If Rose was watching our show, he would have known that 10 players of the Brooklyn Nets were recently in Los Angeles for a bonding session and for working out.

New York Mets are on a losing streak, meanwhile, the NY Yankees are 20 games over .500; the Yankees' young players Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar looking good

Civic engagement program sponsored by RISE, a nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross

Martin Luther King III met with NY Giants players and staff to encourage them to become more politically active and to use their platforms and influence to get others involved in civic engagement.

The event was sponsored by RISE, a nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, and is dedicated to harnessing the unifying power of sports to improve race relations and drive social progress.

So, it begs the question, where was Stephen Ross’ voice of reason regarding Colin Kaepernick’s rationale for kneeling during the National Anthem?

What's The 411Sports uses NBCSports Boston's photo, Most Useless Cavaliers, for its Photo of the Week.

The NBC Sports Boston's photo of the Most Useless Cavaliers includes:

• Jeff Green
• George Hill
• Jordan Clarkson
• JR Smith
• Tyronn Lue

Hit us up on YouTube with your picks of the Cleveland Cavaliers' Most Useless Cavaliers.

And, if you think the whole idea is pointless, let us know that as well.

Did Dez Bryant make the right decision to hold out or, could he wind up on the outside looking in?

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant, is still a free agent.

He turned down an offer from the Baltimore Ravens reportedly worth roughly $21 million over three years. Now, it seems he may have to wait until training camp to get an offer.