Daily Link: Avery in Russia
Aug 9, 2010 Avery Johnson, Daily Link, Mikhail Prokhorov
As has been reported by multiple news outlets, Avery Johnson has been in Russia visiting with new owner Mikhail Prokhorov. NJNets.com, has some selected quotations and video from the experience.
While the “Blueprint for Greatness” billboard featured Prokhorov and Jay-Z, it’s become clearer and clearer that the Nets are the Avery and Prokhorov show right now. Not bad for someone, who wasn’t even seemingly Prokhorov’s first choice for head coach.
Daily Link: Prokhorov Defends Superfriends
Jul 29, 2010 Daily Link, Mikhail Prokhorov
In a letter to USA Today, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov defends LeBron James’ decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, calling it an exciting time for the NBA:
We are seeing the birth of a new, dynamic team with such star players, and all of us can await the new season with great anticipation. I wish them success and give them my moral support. I will be happy for us to beat the Miami Heat in the conference finals, maybe not this season, but in the very near future.
Funny dig at the end aside, sorry Proky, can’t share in your optimism. I am neither excited nor curious to see LeBron and the Miami Heat next season. Similar tactics/dominance from the Yankees nearly killed my love for baseball in the 1990s and quite frankly, I’ve always been a more die hard baseball fan than basketball. Unless the Heat experience some kind of karmic meltdown, making the whole thing a colossal failure, I’m really not excited to see a bunch of egomaniacs pretend like they earned anything if/when they win it all.
Nets on the Net: New Players, More Witticisms From Prokhorov
Jul 15, 2010 2010 Offseason, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
Jordan Farmar on why he picked the Nets over the Lakers: “We talked about it, and it wasn’t really how I wanted to spend my whole career, being a backup in a triangle (offense),” the Nets’ new backup point guard explained yesterday.
Al Iannazzone continues to speculate the Nets options for PF. They include Andrei Kirilenko, Troy Murphy, Kenyon Martin, Brandon Bass and Paul Millsap.
Daily News has part two of their interview with Mikhail Prokhorov. There’s more amusing stuff in there, including this nugget:
Q: Can you play (PF)?
A: Power forward? I’m too old for this. And I don’t like the salary of the players. I can make more in business.
Nets on the Net: Words from Prokhorov
Jul 14, 2010 Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
New Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov made some rounds yesterday, talking with his beat reporters and other Nets writers at the Four Seasons hotel and via e-mail. He answered some obvious questions about the team’s search for a new President (UPDATE: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo is reporting Billy King is the front runner with Avery Johnson’s blessing). He’s also very bullish on the team’s “Plan B” roster, despite understanding why fans may be disappointed about striking out on the “big names.”
From the keyboard of the hardest working team blogger in the NBA, Ben Couch: “There is no contradiction between Plan A and Plan B,” said Prokhorov on Tuesday at the Four Seasons. “I think we have great trade opportunities. really good trading assets and a really deep bench. That’s why I’m satisfied. I understand that fans feel a little bit upset, a little angry maybe. But I think they will like this team very soon.”
In an e-mail exchange with NetsDaily, Prokhorov talked about the ideal candidate for team President: “For a championship team, we need a president with a combination of professional skills. He should be respected in the League, very ambitious and able to work well with Avery Johnson. We need not only teamwork among the players, but great teamwork on the management side.”
Throughout these interviews, Prokhorov also flashed his personality and sense of humor. When asked about where he was when LeBron James made his announcement to join the Miami Heat: “Prokhorov said that he was asleep in Moscow. “Maybe it will surprise you, but I still keep some assets to work on,” he said.”
When asked about his “Blueprint for Greatness” mural in New York City: “I think Jay and I look really great. I’m looking into the possibility of buying the building and having it shipped back to Moscow,” he said.
About what happens if he fails to get the Nets a championship in five years: “I’m going to get married,” Prokhorov joked, playing to his playboy reputation. “It’s the worst punishment.”
As for his overall message to Nets fans: “Be patient. Support our team. We will win for sure. And, trust me, the next season will be completely different — aggressive, young,” Prokhorov said. “Now we have a really good ambition: to beat Miami Heat.”
Nets on the Net: The King is Off His Throne
Jul 9, 2010 2010 Free Agents, LeBron James, Mikhail Prokhorov
So, how about that one-hour television special last night? Gotta give props to Jim Gray who conducted a terrific interview …. ah who am I kidding. What an egomaniacal bunch of hooey that was. I’ll have more thoughts on LeBron and the state of the Nets in a bit, but let me fill your morning cup of coffee with some links:
For starters, Mr. Prokhorov has a message for you all: “We have a vision of a championship team and need to invest wisely and for the long term. Fortunately, we have more than one plan to reach success, and, as I have found in all areas of my business, that is key to achieving it. To Nets fans past, present and future, the goal of making the playoffs this season remains intact and we reiterate our commitment to winning a championship within five years.”
Record columnist Tara Sullivan is one of many to call LeBron James cold, selfish, stupid, a poopy-head, etc.
Al Iannazzone has measured, yet critical words for Prokhorov and the “Blueprint for Greatness”: There is nothing wrong with confidence, putting yourself out there because you believe this is the dawn of an era of exciting things. It seems times and philosophies are changing for the Nets, which is a good thing. To win, you have to have a good owner with deep pockets and willing to spend. The Nets have that now, but they jumped the gun a little bit or were a little overzealous in Prokhorov’s first go-around as an NBA owner.
Steve Politi, not so much: Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov issued a statement not five minutes after the decision to “reiterate our commitment to winning a championship within five years.” But that billboard outside Madison Square Garden, the one declaring that Prokhorov and Jay-Z had the “blueprint for success” is 30 stories worth of hubris today, and the new owner looks as feeble as the old one.
Speaking of bug-eyed crazy, anyone read Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s letter to fans about LeFraud?
Dave D’Alessandro talks about tbe bidding war developing between the Nets and Bobcats over Tyrus Thomas of all people. With Derrick Favors being asked to spend the first half of the season on the bench, will PF be another major point of weakness for the Nets again?
No Boozer for Nets Either
Jul 7, 2010 2010 Free Agents, Mikhail Prokhorov
The Nets options in FA are dwindling rapidly, as multiple reports have Carlos Boozer going to Chicago. Dave D’Alessandro says the team will likely turn to David Lee now, but notes that the optimism the organization was riding after last week’s meeting with LeBron and Co. has wanted considerably.
The Nets are dangerously close to be completely shut out from all of the main free agents this summer which now begs an all too-important question for this organization – what good was shedding all those contracts the past two years? Hopefully Mikhail Prokhorov learned a hard and fast lesson in all this: it’s going to take more than money to bring this franchise out of the muck.
Update: Looks like David Lee isn’t coming this way either, as he’s likely going to Golden State in a sign-and-trade.
Nets on the Net: Notes from Prokhorov, More Plan B’s
Jul 6, 2010 2010 Free Agents, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
ESPN’s Chris Broussard obtained some notes from Mikhail Prokhorov’s conversations with his top executives from this past weekend. Some things Prokhorov notably said is he believes Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will join forces in Miami and if LeBron James were to join them, he would win a few championships but diminish his own brand. He believes Cleveland’s hometown edge is going to be tough to overcome but if the Nets do land James, they would sign Carlos Boozer or David Lee to be his PF caddy. If the Nets don’t land James, they’re going to play it smart, make some “meaningful trades” and keep cap space for next summer.
As for backup plans, Dave D’Alessandro notes that the Nets brass has been in contact with Lee and Boozer’s people, despite not having a formal meeting with them yet. Adrian Wojnarowski believes the Nets could make a play for beleaguered PF Tyrus Thomas. Apparently the Nets didn’t get their fill of big men not fulfilling their potential when they were dealing with Yi Jianlian. Al Iannazzone lists Matt Barnes, Richard Jefferson, Rasual Butler, Joe Alexander, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, Raymond Felton and Randy Foye as other options. But the Nets shouldn’t start having dreams of landing next summer’s big fish, Carmelo Anthony, as Fanhouse is reporting he’s likely to sign an extension with Denver.
Nets on the Net: The Waiting Continues. What is the Nets Plan B?
Jul 4, 2010 2010 Free Agents, Derrick Favors, LeBron James, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net
With the courtship of LeBron officially over, the Nets are doing the same thing they’ve done the past few days: wait for an answer. With reports from Dave D’Alessandro that Mikhail Prokhorov’s Gulfstream V jet has left New Jersey, the story remains – the Nets are waiting out LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Sources close to Mikhail Prokhorov say that LeBron is 50-50 on coming to the Nets. Only after those three give their answers will they turn to a Plan B, which is a bit more complicated. According to Fred Kerber, the team is not looking to spend money just to spend money, and given some of the contracts that have been handed out already in free agency, that could be hard. They may still try and make a run to acquire a SF via trade, but not at the expense of Derrick Favors, Kerber writes. They could make a run at David Lee or Carlos Boozer to play PF, or they might seek a shorter-term stopgap like Udonis Haslem or Luis Scola. It’s possible that if the “big three” spurn them, the Nets could sit on their cap space another summer and wait out Carmelo Anthony. Despite rumors that he’s ready to sign with the Knicks, the Nets, and other teams, apparently have meetings set-up with Amare Stoudemire for later this week, according to Sam Amick and NBA Fanhouse.
Meanwhile, those still figuring out if the Nets are in on “Plan A,” Chris Broussard, in an ESPN video doesn’t dismiss it. He weighs out the three possible options for Chris Bosh and where he will follow LeBron and/or Wade.
Nets on the Net: All About LeBron, Free Agency
Jul 1, 2010 2010 Free Agents, LeBron James, Mikhail Prokhorov
The concept that the Nets would be a major player for free agents in the Summer of 2010 was first born more than two years ago, when the Nets shipped off one of their most popular players, Richard Jefferson, to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. A year later, Vince Carter was the next domino to fall, signaling that for the 2009-10 season, performance on the court was going to be a secondary priority. What mattered most was financial flexibility.
Here we are, July 1st, and after two years of mostly miserable times following this Nets team, the era of hope is officially upon us and the Nets will be the first team to sit down with LeBron James in Akron, OH. As a massive billboard in the face of Madison Square Garden flaunts the team’s owners and their desire to be players, Nets fans have apparently been given the okay by those involved to “think big” too. It almost feels like if the Nets don’t walk away with the coup of the century, LeBron James in Newark then Brooklyn for the next five years, it will be a disappointment. But as we fans learned before the draft lottery, it’s hard to count on the unexpected. Nets fans just need to roll with every rumor until some of these big names start to land somewhere.
Strangely enough, after a week of talk of a “super team” in Miami, or matching Jordan’s legacy in Chicago (Frank Isola will still tell you the Knicks are totally legit in this arm’s race, though after being one of the king rumor-mongerers the past year he’s suddenly sick and tired of this stuff if you read his twitter page), it appears in many reports this morning that LeBron staying in Cleveland is the most plausible scenario. Shocking, I know.
Al Iannazzone talks about how for the Nets, the owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, is their pitch. Will it work? Depends on how you define “work”: “I think they’re going to be successful, but how do you define success?” an Eastern Conference executive said. “If you end up with Rudy Gay and David Lee with Devin Harris, Courtney Lee and Brook Lopez, I think that’s a nice team.”
But with a three-hour presentation planned, the Nets are going to do more than just have Prokhorov show up and kickbox. Fred Kerber, who’s really done some fantastic reporting during this whole ordeal, has the scoop on who’s going to say what today:
Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov will pitch his global vision, showing James the vast network his resources reach, including Russia, Brooklyn, China, a network that could make him a billionaire.
Hip-hop mogul and James friend Jay-Z will propose James’ own clothing line plus a new fragrance, as well as opportunities in entertainment.
Coach Avery Johnson will concentrate on his approach and James’ play as huge pieces of a resurgent team with quality youth in place.
Team president Rod Thorn can show how he twice brought the team from the brink and, even if he’s not in place in two more weeks, that with Prokhorov’s determination to have a dynasty, the commitment to winning is ferocious.
Dmitry Razumov, CEO of Prokhorov’s Onexim company, will pitch business opportunities awaiting James.
Nets CEO Brett Yormark can discuss ways the Nets, who will be in Brooklyn in two years, can market the NBA’s reigning MVP and biggest star.
By the way, those on LeBron-burnout should now that before midnight last night, a few other big names opted out of their contracts, some unexpectedly. Amare Stoudemire, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Richard Jefferson, who left nearly $15 million on the table, according to the New York Times. For a pretty thorough rundown on the FA market besides LeBron, check out Adrian Wojnarowski’s latest scribblings.
Nets on the Net: Blueprint for Greatness
Jun 30, 2010 Jay-Z, LeBron James, Mikhail Prokhorov, Nets on the Net, Rod Thorn
Well, now the Nets have gone and done it. Earlier this week, Al Iannazzone hinted that “big things” were afoot with this organization, and while the biggest dreamers in us might have thought it was going to be a major trade, I suspect it was in fact something a little more gleeful. Like, say, a 225-by-90-foot mural of Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z on 34th Street and 8th, which is adjacent to some building the Knicks play in… can’t remember the name … it used to be an important part of New York sports culture but it’s hard for me to remember things that happened 20 years ago.
Still, despite the chatter focusing more on Miami and Chicago, and with the Nets firing a shot across the bow attracting attention of their own, the Knicks still believe they are major players for LeBron James.
Meanwhile, Dave D’Alessandro rolls out the team’s itinerary over the next few days. Interestingly enough, outside of Bosh, the team hasn’t scheduled anything (yet) with the other bigs out there, Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire and David Lee. That’s not to say they won’t, but it seems pretty clear this team is aiming for the biggest fish first. Love the aggression.
Still, Steve Politi of the Star-Ledger has to throw cold water all over us mouth-foaming Nets fans and remind us that with Rod Thorn stepping down, but not “retiring,” it just doesn’t look terribly good for the organization right now.