Word around the NBA is that the Nets now have the biggest basketball operations staff in the league ... or close to it. Only the Pistons can rival it. Of course, there's no official list, but also, there's no doubt that Sean Marks has fulfilled his promise to expand staff.

A number of those additions have come in hiring for the Long Island Nets, the new D-League affiliate, but throughout the organization, there are new people in new jobs. Marks did not clean house, other than on the coaching staff, No one from Lionel Hollins and Tony Brown's group survived. In the front office, the scouting department and on the performance team, longtime staffers were promoted and/or given new responsibilities.

As Marks said at his press conference...

"Agents and players will get wind that something different is happening there. I don't want people saying, 'It's the Nets, nothing's going to change.' There is going to be changes here. I want to get the right people in here, in free agency and to lead this team forward..."

By our count, with this week's naming of the D-League assistant coaches and new scouts, the Nets have added 26 new staffers to basketball operations. Here's our best summary, including promotions. We won't know the full range of who's back and who's not until the Nets repost their basketball operations directory.

Front Office:

--Sean Marks, 40, General Manager, hired from the Spurs, announced February 18.

--Trajan Langdon, 40, Assistant General Manager, hired from the Cavaliers --after three years with the Spurs, announced March 8.

--Andrew Baker, 26, Coordinator, Strategic Planning, hired from the Spurs in March, announced May 5.

--Natalie Jay, 33, cap and contract specialist, hired from the 8th Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, announced May 5.

--Mitch Heckart, manager public relations staff, hired from the University of Oklahoma. Before that, he worked for the San Antonio Spurs, reported August 21, not yet announced.

Promoted: Ryan Gisriel has gone from executive assistant to Billy King to director of basketball administration.

Promoted: Aaron Harris, Gary Sussman's long time No. 2, is now Senior Director of Public Relations.

Coaches:

--Kenny Atkinson, 48, Head Coach, hired from the Hawks, announced April 17.

--Jacque Vaughn, 41, Lead assistant coach, hired from the Spurs, reported April 30, announced May 16.

--Jordan Ott, 31, assistant coach/director of advance scouting, hired from the Hawks, reported May 13, announced July 5..

--Adam Harrington, 35, assistant coach/director of player development, hired from Thunder, reported May 21, announced July 5.



--Chris Fleming, 46, assistant coach, hired from Nuggets, reported May 24, announced July 5.

--Mike Batiste, 38, assistant coach, player development, hired from the Cleveland Cavaliers where he worked with the D-League Canton Charge, reported June 27, announced.July 5.

--Bret Brielmaier, 28, assistant coach, hired from the Cleveland Cavaliers. reported July 3, announced.July 5.

--Will Weaver, 31, special assistant to the head coach, hired from the 76ers, reported June 7, but not yet announced.

--Logan MacPhail, 29, director of coaching analytics, hired from the San Antonio Spurs. reported August 21, not yet announced.

Scouts:

--Shelden Williams, 32, pro scout. Last job with the Tianjin Lions of the CBA, announced May 5.

--Charles Payne, 50, pro and college scout, hired from Stanford University, announced May 5.

--William "B.J." Johnson, 35, coordinator of player evaluation, hired from USA Basketball, announced August 22.

--Gianluca Pascucci, 44, director of global scouting, hired from Houston Rockets, announced August 22.

Performance Team:

--Zach Weatherford, 45, director of player performance, hired from the Naval Special Warfare Command, announced June 9.

--Dan Meehan, 34, head strength and conditioning coach/sport scientist, hired from the North Melbourne Football Club, announced June 9.

--Aisling Toolan, 31, director of physical therapy, hired from the Hospital for Special Surgery, announced June 9.

--Sebastien Poirier, 30, assistant athletic trainer, hired from the Oklahoma City Thunder. reported August 20, not yet announced.

Promoted: Lloyd Beckett, an assistant under Tim Walsh, is now head athletic trainer/physical therapist.

D-League - Long Island Nets:

--Alton Byrd, 58, Vice President of Business Operations, Long Island Nets, hired from the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA, announced March 24.

--Ronald Nored, 25, Head Coach, Long Island Nets, hired from Northern Kentucky --after two years with Celtics, April 15.

--Ryan Gomes, 32, Assistant Coach, Long Island Nets, retired from NBA and D-League after eight-year pro career, reported July 11, posted July 13, announced August 23.

--Pat Rafferty, 57, Assistant coach, Long Island Nets, hired from Central Wyoming College, where he was head coach, announced August 23.

Promoted: Matt Riccardi, senior manager of basketball operations, has taken on new duties as assistant GM for the Long Island Nets, working with Langdon who in addition to being the Nets assistant GM, is the D-League club's general manager.

Promoted: Ale Oliviera, who was an NBA assistant trainer of the year with the Nets last season, will be the D-League club's head athletic trainer and strength coach. He's been with the Nets for three years, serving under Tim Walsh.

Promoted: -- Brett Levy and Trevor Hendry , who work with basketball operations in Brooklyn, will serve as video assistant and Video/Player Development & Basketball Operations Assistant, respectively.

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As previously noted, several key staffers remain. Gregg Polinsky, the long time director player personnel, aka the team's chief scout, reportedly signed a new multi-year deal and has essentially become No. 3 in the front office behind Marks and Langdon. He's been with the team close to 20 years.

A few of the scouts under Billy King have also been retained, including Danko Cvjeticnanin, their international scouting director. Glenn DuPaul and Rami Antoun, the analytics staff hired by King, also are still on the job.

And, no, we are told, they're not done yet.