Nets Are Scorching

It was expected, but the news is finally official as Dave D’Alessandro reports:

The NBA Board of Governors has approved Mikhail Prokhorov’s acquisition of a controlling interest in the Nets, the league announced in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon.

“We are pleased that the NBA’s Board of Governors approved Mikhail Prokhorov’s purchase of majority ownership of the Nets, welcoming into the NBA ownership ranks the league’s first majority investor from outside of North America,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said. “We anticipate that his passion for the game and business acumen will be of considerable value not only to the Nets franchise but to the entire NBA.”

The deal is expected to be officially completed Wednesday, with the final closing

Also in Dave D.’s report, he reiterates that Rod Thorn should be given a contract extension soon (which is important, because once that happens the Nets should get going on their offseason plans):

Prokhorov is expected to give team president Rod Thorn a contract extension sometime next week, and that will be followed by the NBA Draft Lottery in Secaucus — where Prokhorov himself will probably represent the team Tuesday night — and a free agent market in which the Nets hope to have at least $26 million to spend on new players.

Good to have this finally set in stone.  With all of the problems the Nets have had with their move to Brooklyn and everything related I was kind of just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  That won’t happen now.  Hopefully we get to hear from Prokhorov soon, but if not, expect to see him next week at the Draft Lottery.  Given the good luck that has surrounded Mikhail Prokhorov during his professional life, this should be a good thing.

As everyone has probably read already, there are a number of reports that the current NBA owners are voting on Mikhail Prokhorov’s bid to become the owner of the New Jersey Nets.  According to Julian Garcia, Prokhorov is going to need 75% of the vote, and if he gets it, Prokhorov will be the man in charge:

Prokhorov would become the league’s first non-North American owner and also its second-richest, behind Portland‘s Paul Allen. According to Forbes‘ most recent list of wealthiest people in the world, Prokhorov is worth approximately $13.4 billion – a fortune that has the Nets and their fans hopeful they will quickly turn around the 12-70 record they compiled this season. “It’s been coming for some time but it looks like it’s about to come to fruition,” said Nets president Rod Thorn, who is expected to get a new contract shortly after Prokhorov takes over.

I think everyone is assuming that the 75% vote is going to happen (because we probably would have heard something about it if it didn’t happen), and when it does we are going to be going from one of the stingiest owners in the league, to one who is set to be the most willing to spend.

Things have been exciting for Nets’ fans and he hasn’t even taken over yet.  There is talk of taking over a D-League team in a hybrid deal (something that some of the best run teams do), talk of throwing money at a big name coach, and talk of Prokhorov to do whatever it takes to put the best team out there.  It is going to be funny to see how Nets’ fans (including myself) handle the change.  I have been on the record here (and other places) saying that I think Eddie Jordan would be a really good fit as coach for the Nets, should I change who I want to see the Nets go after because Prokhorov is taking over?

One thing is for sure, Prokhorov cares about winning, and he is set to become a hands on owner (He even wants to represent the Nets at the Draft Lottery next week).  I am almost willing to compare him to Mark Cuban in that regard, and you have seen how well it has worked for the Mavs.  10 straight 50 win seasons?  Sign me up for that.

I apologize in advance to all of you readers out there who couldn’t get enough of our NAS off-season awards. With that said, after taking a bit of a hiatus, I realized there’s one more core member of the team who didn’t get any kind of acknowledgement.

Courtney Lee is an interesting case in that his season was so inconsistent, he could have been a candidate for many of the other awards given out so far: Most enigmatic? Sure, the guy would look like an all-around game changer one night, and then disappear the next. Disappointing? It depends a lot on your standards, but if you bought into the hype that the Nets traded their last star in Vince Carter for a guy who would be a suitable replacement offensively, then you would have been very disappointed. Most frustrating? Still think that Yi wins that award hands down, but similar to Yi, Lee’s stroke would be working on night, and then his shot would mysteriously go south.

But the award I’ve decided upon here is “Most Improved.” With all due respect to Terrence Williams and his outstanding final six weeks of the season, Lee statistically became a much more dynamic player as the season went along. Unlike TWill, outside of January, Lee got a little bit better every month of the season, and by the time mid-April rolled around, he looked like he was going to fit into next year’s core somehow (as a starter or bench player depends on who the Nets draft and sign in free agency).

An injury-plagued November limited Lee to only 7 games and 3 starts, as he seemingly found himself in Lawrence Frank’s doghouse early. The numbers weren’t pretty as he averaged 7.6 points on 35 percent shooting, including 22 percent from long-range, one of his supposed offensive strengths.  When Kiki Vandeweghe took over for Frank, his first move was to insert Lee back in the starting rotation. From there, Lee rewarded Kiki by scoring 13 points on 43 percent shooting, though he was still woeful from long range, shooting 26 percent from three.

By the time February rolled around, Lee’s game started to improve, and it’s no coincidence that the Nets started playing better as a team as a result.  February was probably his best month as he averaged 15.5 points on 49 percent shooting, including 41 percent from three. Lee was finally resembling the player Nets fans were hoping for after the Carter trade. No he wasn’t going to match VC’s offensive production, but he was resembling a good outside shooter with some nice defensive chops. He matched his shooting numbers from February in March, though he was done in by the small sample size of 7 games in March, averaging 14 points on 43 percent shooting, including 32 percent from three.

While Lee never resembled an “all-star” for sustained stretches, by the end of the season, he did come across as a steady presence on the roster. He got praise from coaches and sportswriters for his great attitude and his perseverance on the defensive end. Courtney Lee is certain to play some role for this organization next year.