Three years ago, the Brooklyn Nets were broken. They had no present, and even worse, they had no future.

Today, the Nets are one of the best stories in the NBA, a franchise with a present and a future.

Brooklyn is in the playoffs for the first time since 2015 with a roster, draft picks and salary cap space to make an impact in the Eastern Conference in the coming years led by a young core that includes All-Star D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Rodions Kurucs.

The story of this season’s Nets begins with owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s decision to hire Sean Marks as general manager in February 2016.

Marks took over a team that was about to finish 21-61 and had no first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 thanks to one of Prokhorov’s worst decisions, imploring former GM Billy King to make a push for a championship. King traded those first-round picks, plus Boston’s right to swap first-round picks in 2017, for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

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It got the franchise one first-round series victory, and the trade set the franchise back years. It was on Marks to fix it. A tall order no doubt. He started off right by hiring Kenny Atkinson as coach. Atkinson is a strong player development guy who had the right temperament to handle a difficult season or two while making sure young players improved and didn’t become discouraged. He was and remains the right coach, and that’s why Atkinson and his staff are in line for contract extensions.

Once Marks found his coach, he needed to restock draft picks, acquire talent and manage salary cap space. He has done all of that in an accelerated rebuild that seemed impossible when he took the job. It's a model for other rebuilding teams.

He traded for Russell, LeVert, Allen Crabbe, Jared Dudley and DeMarre Carroll — the latter two important veterans for a young team. With his 2017 first-round pick, he selected Allen, a talented big man who can defend and operate within Brooklyn’s offense. He drafted Kurucs in the second round and Dzanan Musa with the 29th pick in the first round in 2018.

Marks used free agency to sign Dinwiddie, Harris and Ed Davis. He also made a bunch of deals to get second-round picks, and in June, the Nets have their own first-round pick and Denver’s first-round pick, plus two-second round picks.

And the Nets have salary cap space this summer for one max contract and money left over to spend on other quality players. The Nets are — or least should be — an attractive destination for free agents of all levels.

It has been a joy to watch the Nets flourish, to see Russell turn into an All-Star after the Los Angeles Lakers cast him off as a bust, to see Dinwiddie, Harris and LeVert develop into quality players.

Marks has a gift for seeing something in a player others don’t, and Atkinson and his staff have a knack for extracting the talent. The Nets have made tangible offensive and defensive improvements year over year that have paid off in the win column.

Between the two, they have fostered a winning culture.

Add two more first-round picks and quality free agents, and the Nets can make themselves an even bigger factor in the East.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt