Nets Are Scorching

Bruce Ratner on Bloomberg today:

Over in Russia, AP is reporting that some of Mikhail Prokhorov’s comrades are not all that pleased with the announcement that he is buying a majority share in the Nets. “I can’t consider this action as anything other than unpatriotic,” said one.

Adrian Wojnarowksi at Yahoo goes over what may draw LeBron James to Mikhail Prokhorov.

HoopDoctors lists Courtney Lee and Yi Jianlian as top candidates for a breakout season on the Nets.

Dime ranks Devin Harris #23 on its NBA Best go-to players top 30.

The Washington Post has a must-read life after basketball piece on former Nets all-star Kenny Anderson.

Name: Tony Battie
Position: PF/C
Height: 6’11″
Weight: 240
Birth Date: February 11, 1976 (age 33)
Birth Place: Dallas, TX
Number: 7
College: Texas Tech University
Drafted: 1997, 1st round, 5th overall by Denver
Experience: 12 seasons
Contract: $6 million in 2009-10

On offense:
When Tony Battie came to the NBA out of Texas Tech as the 5th overall pick in 1997, Battie was a pretty athletic big man who used his athleticism as an advantage on this inside.  Injuries really hurt Battie though, and he was never able to reach his full potential because of it.  Battie’s offensive game is pretty lacking for the most part, and his career high in PPG was during his rookie season 12 years ago (8.4 PPG).

Read more…

Mikhail Prokhorov will probably be bringing in his own Front Office people. We know that.  With that being said, I thought it would be interesting/fun to look at his Russian team’s (CSKA Moscow)  roster.

Before we get to the actual roster, we should note that his teams were good.  I mean real good.  Just look at the results.  They have won their Russian League titles every year since 2002-2003, plus they have been in the Euroleague final the final four years…winning it two out of those four years.

So, back to the roster.  Here was their roster for the 2008-2009 Euroleague:

There are a lot of familiar names on the roster huh?  There are a number of former-NBA players and a few big name college guys.  So what does this mean?  Well for one he is (or his people) are going to be willing to throw around a lot of cash for some big names (let’s face it, Prokhorov probably paid a ton of money – for Russian League basketball – for these guys).

Also note the coach…word is that Prokhorov is enamored with him.

So what hasn’t been said about Mikhail Prokhorov’s bid for the Nets?  In the past day we have heard from Mr. Prokhorov himself, the Nets, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, ESPN, FanHouse, Dave D., and most importantly our own Mark G. I mean even David Stern voiced his opinion (from Dave D.):

“We are looking forward to the Nets’ move to a state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn, with its rich sports heritage,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said. “Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia.”

After reading through all of this stuff, the thing that really peaked my interest was Tom Ziller’s piece for FanHouse.  The title?  Nets Management Is Toast.  With my personal response to any move the Nets make being “In Thorn We Trust,” you can see why this worries me a bit.  I am actually really thankful for Ziller’s article, because through all of this excitement, and yes this is exciting as hell, we need to understand that this is new ownership, and traditionally when referring to sports teams, new ownership likes to clean house.  Ziller writes:

New owners habitually jettison management when taking over a team — it’s an accepted practice going back to the 1970s. And Prokhorov’s a special case: he has money, he has nationalistic pride, he has a desire to further the careers of his countrymen and friends, he has an aching need to win (as seen with his CSKA Moscow club) and he has completely carte blanche. If Thorn’s contract extended into 2010-11, perhaps you could see Prokhorov holding off on the upheaval. But the new owner has literally no incentive to stay with the status quo.

While this is entirely true, you have some special circumstances at work here.  First, when new ownership usually cleans house, they go on to hire people who have been around the league for some time.  It is becoming apparent that Prokhorov plans on bringing his own people from Russia over.  The problem with this, at least initially, is that the people that Prokhorov is going to bring over won’t be too familiar with the inner-workings of the NBA.  For example, go take a look at Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ, and tell me that isn’t crazy.  That’s just salary cap stuff!   If Prokhorov thinks he can just jump into NBA ownership with his own people running the Nets, he is crazy.

This is why if Rod Thorn is willing to (remember his contract is up at the end of this year, and who knows if he wants to keep doing this, especially during a transition period),  Prokhorov should keep him on in some capacity.  With the summer of 2010 fast approaching, you want Thorn’s experience and contacts on your side.  I would feel more comfortable if he was still in his current position, but if Prokhorov really wants his people in key spots, I wouldn’t be against seeing some money thrown Thorn’s way to keep him in an advisory role, sharing his knowledge with Prokhorov’s people and smoothing the transition.

One final thing that Ziller notes:

Maybe there’s even an anti-incentive to staying with Thorn beyond April. I mean, the Nets have oodles of cap space this summer, and every superstar alive will be a free agent. July 1, 2010 is the opportunity for the Nets. Prokhorov is going to want his people in place for that.

He is spot-on here, and that is what scares me the most.  Hopefully Prokhorov seriously thinks about keeping Thorn on board, even if it is just for one more year, long enough for Thorn to show Prokhorov’s people the ropes.  Something that eases my nerves is that Prokhorov is willing to learn from the NBA.  From ESPN:

Prokhorov’s love of the high life is rivaled by his devotion to basketball. He owns a share of the Russian team CSKA Moscow, and he said on his blog he wants to buy the Nets partly to get access to NBA training methods and help Russian coaches get internships in the league.

In the end, we won’t know until Thorn’s contract is up, but one thing is for sure, things are exciting as hell right now!

As a Nets fan, there hasn’t always been a lot to be excited about. There were back-to-back trips to the Finals a few years ago. There was the trade for Vince Carter a few years after that. Otherwise, I haven’t been truly, honestly excited as a Nets fan since the team was up 1-0 on the Miami Heat during the 2006 Playoffs. Since that game, the Nets have made the playoffs, and played some great games, and have now laid the foundation for a good, young team that could be competitive in the near-future, but I can’t say I have been excited. I was rooting for the Nets, of course, because I rooted for them when Butch Beard was the coach and Shawn Bradley was the center. But rooting and excitement are not always one and the same.

The announcement that Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has purchased a majority stake in the Nets has me excited. Yes, the deal still needs to be approved by the NBA. Prokhorov has a questionable past and has been compared by some to be the Russian version of Mark Cuban because of his outspokeness, which will irk many. I must also keep in mind that while bringing the Nets to Brooklyn is a priority for Prokhorov, and a move to Brooklyn would give the Nets significantly better odds to land a top free agent next summer, his taking ownership of the team guarantees neither of these things. All it does is provide hope.

As Tom Ziller writes at NBA Fanhouse, Prokhorov is not going to be shy about spending his billions on the Nets. By all accounts, the guy is a passionate businessman, who wants to make money, but also wants to make a splash. I’ve never pulled for a team that had a George Steinbrenner or Mark Cuban type at the helm – someone who may drive people crazy, but also becomes a god to fans for his desire to win. As a fan of teams who have always played it conservatively, or have been good citizens in the league, I’ve publicly said I’ve hated teams like the Yankees or the Mavs, but I’ve always envied the desire of their ownership.

I think it’s safe to say that when Bruce Ratner bought the Nets, his priority was the Atlantic Yards Development first, and the product on the court a distant second. The acquisition of Vince Carter was a sort of mea culpa for giving away Kenyon Martin, but Ratner never showed interest in building a winner. Between the Nets cap space next summer and Prokhorov’s reputation as a free-spender, I have no doubt that an effort will be made to acquire every big name that’s out there. Prokhorov is not going to be the NBA’s first foreign owner to fail – he wants to win.

There are things about this deal that certainly make me uneasy. As Dave D’Alessandro implies, the current front office of Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe could be shown the door under a new ownership. It’s a common casualty of ownership changes like that, but that doesn’t make it right. Thorn had the vision to make this team a contender in the first place when he acquired Jason Kidd before 2001. Losing someone with his experience and saavy would hurt.

But I think the good far outweighs the bad here, and that’s before we bring Brooklyn into the equation. Opponents of the move will say it’s never going to happen – they’re going to throw more lawsuits out there to delay the process and upend the development. They might succeed. But again, Prokhorov isn’t looking to come into the NBA to be a second class citizen. If the NBA approves Prokhorov as many expect, it will be a clear signal that David Stern and others want basketball in Brooklyn more than anything – even if that means bringing in a Russian oligarch with a questionable past who might become a headache a la Mark Cuban.

Here’s a wrap-up of some non-Prokhorov news for the day:

As the off-season comes to a close, Slippery When Nets gets nostalgic for the Nets finest season, 2001-02.

Rod Thorn, Kiki Vandeweghe and other Nets representatives will participate in the Capstone Global Markets Charity Day, sponsored by hedge fund Capstone, to support research focused on finding a cure to Batten Disease.

Atlantic Yards Report runs a letter from the NYC Transit Riders Council, expressing their outrage regarding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Agreement to accept incremental payments of $20 million for property needed to build the Atlantic Yards development.

Lawrence Frank talks some more about life without a “Big Three” with The Baseline at Sporting News.

The Blowtorch envisions a conversation between Jay-Z and a Russian businessman.

We have a winner in the “Take a Net to School” contest.

NetsAreScorching asked Daniel Goldstein, spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, one of the primary groups opposing the Atlantic Yards development plan that would bring the Nets to Brooklyn, for some additional reaction regarding the team’s sale to Russian oligarch Prokhorov today:

NAS: Does this announcement of Prokhorov taking a controlling stake in the Nets change how opponents of the Atlantic Yards development plan to fight this project in the coming months?

DDDB: The answer is no, other than to make sure that our city, state and federal elected officials, as well as the NBA, does their proper due diligence on vetting Mr. Prokhorov.

NAS: If this deal is approved by the NBA, is there any doubt on your end that Ratner will have the finances he needs to go forward on this project?

DDDB: This deal does basically nothing to help Ratner with the arena financing or the financing for the rest of the project. The $200 million reportedly coming from Prokhorov presumably goes, mostly, to buy out the Nets owners (not sure if that includes Ratner in full or in part) who wanted out from the team. It doesn’t appear to be going toward the project or the arena construction. Even if it is in part or in full, it is a long way from the total financing Ratner needs.
NAS: How critical does the hearing on Oct. 14th in Albany become now to the future of the AY opposition?

DDDB: No more or less critical today than it was yesterday. Ratner has legal hurdles and financial hurdles. The legal hurdles didn’t change today, and while the financial hurdles may have changed a bit, this is clearly not where Ratner wanted to be. His potential deal with Prokhorov, if it survives scrutiny seems to be a desperate deal of last resort that doesn’t go far enough for Ratner. On top of that, today’s announced deal brings even more moving parts in while diminishing Ratner’s control.

NAS: In your release, you bring up some of Prokhorov’s questionable background, but the FCRC statement includes comments from NBA commissioner David Stern who has seemingly endorsed this deal. What do you think that says for the current state of the NBA, financial and otherwise?

DDDB: I don’t think it says anything good about the NBA. But they can’t simply turn the other way and not do their due diligence. We have little doubt that Stern is desperate to get the Nets out of the Meadowlands, and that means he’ll go very far to make sure his owners approve a very questionable deal. But lawyers may not allow him to be as desperate as he is. We’ll see what happens.

Forest City Ratner Companies and Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group announced today that they have agreed to sign a letter of intent to create a strategic partnership to develop the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, the proposed future home of the Barclays Arena and the Nets (AP via SI).

Here are some details from a Forest City Ratner Enterprise press release on the Nets home page:

In accordance with the agreement, entities to be formed by Onexim Group will invest $200 million and make certain contingent funding commitments to acquire 45% of the arena project and 80% of the NBA team, and the right to purchase up to 20% of the Atlantic Yards Development Company, which will develop the non-arena real estate.

Bruce Ratner, the Chairman and CEO of FCRC, said, “Mikhail and Onexim will be great partners for this project. I am thrilled that smart global investors appreciate the exciting economic potential of Brooklyn. We are one step closer to achieving our goals of creating much needed jobs and economic development for Brooklyn and the city.”Mikhail Prokhorov, President of Onexim Group, said “We are delighted to join in this exciting project and to participate in the landmark development of global sports in this entertainment arena in the heart of New York City. I have a long-standing passion for basketball and pursuing interests that forward the development of the sport in Russia. I look forward to becoming a member of the NBA and working with Bruce and his talented team to bring the Nets to Brooklyn.”

NBA Commissioner David Stern said, “We are looking forward to the Nets’ move to a state-of-the-art facility in Brooklyn, with its rich sports heritage. Interest in basketball and the NBA is growing rapidly on a global basis and we are especially encouraged by Mr. Prokhorov’s commitment to the Nets and the opportunity it presents to continue the growth of basketball in Russia.”

Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, one of the primary opponents of the deal has issued their own statement via spokesman Daniel Goldstein:

“This has got to be a huge wake-up call for Ratner’s political supporters. The only reason Ratner would make this deal is because he is in dire financial trouble. If Ratner has to go overseas to get major funding for the arena, how on earth is he going to finance the rest of the project?”

The deal would have to be approved by the NBA’s board of govenors, according to the AP.

Well folks, this is pretty huge. We’ll see where things legally stand once the Oct. 14 hearing in Albany regarding the use of eminent domain for the project passes, but considering it’s only been about a week since the “richest man in Russia” was linked to the Nets and this deal was announced, things are clearly moving at an accelerated pace with the end of the year still being the supposed finish line for Brooklyn to happen.