Denver Nuggets assistant GM serious candidate for Brooklyn Nets front office opening

Denver Nuggets Assistant General Manager Arturas Karnisovas has emerged as a serious candidate for the vacant Brooklyn Nets general manager opening that ownership wants to fill prior to the Feb. 18 trade deadline, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Nets, who reassigned former GM Billy King earlier this month, are looking for a candidate with a global scouting focus and recent success in the draft. However, with limited draft picks in the coming years, Brooklyn also wants a general manger who can be creative and capitalize on second round selections.

Karnisovas, who signed a contract extension with the Nuggets last week, certainly fits that criteria as the Nuggets have recently drafted a slew of international prospects that appear to have staying power in the league including: Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic and Joffrey Lauvergne. Karnisovas has also had a hand in selecting both Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris; and Serbian point guard Nikola Radicevic is waiting in the wings overseas as another draft-and-stash second-round selection.

The 44-year-old Karnisovas speaks several languages, including Russian, and has strong ties to the Nets front office and owner Mikhail Prokhorov. He was also the director of scouting with the Houston Rockets prior to arriving in Denver and spent two years as USA Basketball’s global scout.

The Nets want to act fast and have a GM installed before the Feb. 18 trade deadline, as their roster and franchise is in a delicate state. Brooklyn has been siphoning off assets ever since accumulating the league’s highest payroll in hopes of building an immediate contender upon their move to the New York borough in 2012, and could be busy at the deadline this season. The Nets bought out Deron Williams‘ contract last summer and could reach a similar agreement with Joe Johnson‘s $25 million expiring deal if he decides he’d rather join up with a contender than stick it out in Brooklyn.

Parting ways with Johnson and trading their remaining assets in Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for draft picks might be the best course of action for the Nets, but Prokhorov recently stated that he wants to be a championship contender “next season.”

Karnisovas joins former Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry, two-time NBA Executive of the Year Bryan Colangelo and Houston Rockets Executive VP of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas on the shortlist of reported candidates for the Nets opening.