Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, jumped right into the fire when he became a team owner in 2010. Eschewing traditional approaches, Prokhorov stormed the NBA gates with fists full of cash, eyes full of championships and basically no comprehension of how professional sports work in America.
After taking control of the team, moving them from New Jersey into Brooklyn – Jay-Z in tow – Prokhorov’s Nets have been a strange brew of disaster and expectation. One of the very first things to be uttered by the flamboyant Russian was a proclamation of a championship that he intended to win within five years. Also, he hired Billy King to perform the duties of general manager for his team.
Fast forward on this story, present day: The Nets have traded away most of their draft picks, paid well over $100 million in taxes, run through a series of coaches, and currently find themselves no closer to winning a championship than they were in 2010. It’s possible that they are actual even further away.
In the past week, current head coach Lionel Hollins was fired, while King was reassigned presumably to find his own replacement. Right on the heels of the announcements, additional reports have trickled out that the Prokhorov ownership has reached out to former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau as a possible replacement of Hollins and Bryan Colangelo as a possible new GM. Other names mentioned include Mark Jackson for head coach and in a totally sound, not crazy or bad idea scenario, there is John Calipari. The college coaching great, who has already bounced out of the league once as a head coach of these same Nets in the 1990s, claims to have no interest or on-going talks, but his representation is kind enough to at least put a price tag on the goods at $120 million and a presumed dual role as GM and coach, similar to Doc Rivers in Los Angeles.
There are almost as many possible combinations and results for the Nets from here as there are for the Powerball. It is a good time to be looking for a coach. Scott Brooks is currently unemployed in addition to the aforementioned Thibodeau and Jackson. Colangelo and Calipari for GM? And that doesn’t include on-court personnel possibilities. For sake of brevity, we will focus on two possible outcomes – what a rebuild should look like here and what a is Russian billionaire wont to do.
Scenario One
The Nets should really look into doing what they can to bring in someone like Colangelo to run the front office. Prokhorov has essentially demonstrated that organizing, managing and being appropriately involved in the culture and structure of this team is beyond him either because he doesn’t have a high level of interest or he still hasn’t figured out that we have a much more complex form of Financial Fair Play (FFP) on this side of the pond.
Colangelo gets structure, culture, philosophy and all things North American professional basketball. He can run this team the way it needs to be run. It would seem like a nice fit because Prokhorov hasn’t demonstrated a fear to spend money and the possibility of employing a two-tim Executive of the Year must be enticing.
Hiring a coach could go a few different directions. There are a few different people that would be great to lead the Nets at court level during what should be a major restructuring. Brooks and Thibedeau would make strong candidates, but Jackson could be another option. The coach hasn’t won over too many in the greater basketball community, but he could be someone that appeals to ownership based on his work off the court to create a particular culture. If they can get someone with a strong personality like that to help lay the foundation, he could set up the to re-emerge with a strong identity on and off the floor – just in time for someone else to take over a few years from now and push the team to the next level.
Did I mention Jeff van Gundy? Yeah, van Gundy. And though it probably wouldn’t be a great idea at all in this scenario, how far away are we from talking about one of the next apples off of the San Antonio tree, Becky Hammon? I think she deserves better than the mess in Brooklyn and is probably a few years from taking a full-time position as a head coach, but I believe it is coming and it would be the best thing about the Nets hands down.
Realistically, the Nets have already reached out to Thibodeau and he has to be the primary candidate.
As for the roster, it will look ugly until the summer arrives. There are a number of player-option candidates and just a handful of players under contract. The Nets will have space for a max contract and then some. And that is before they even look at dealing the contracts of Brook Lopez, Joe Johnson or Thad Young.
This unoriginal thought is probably the best one: look to move those large contracts, get picks or prospects if you can. The rumor is that a picture of Joe Johnson is now the official image on the Wikipedia page for “albatross,” and for good reason. Johnson has a horrific contract and at his age, 34, is nearing the end of his days in the NBA.
Finding a match for Johnson is difficult and he is reportedly unwilling to agree to a buyout deal with the Nets. If you fire up the trade machine, you can probably find a few ways to get him out of town, but it isn’t easy. Maybe a bit easier would be moving either Young or Lopez, players who still contribute in a potentially significant way with a much friendlier price tag.
The move to be made for the Nets on this front is to look for a contender that needs to bolster their roster with a solid scoring option at center or add a forward who collects double-doubles like your nerdy cousin collections Magic cards.
The long-term view for the Nets should involve some combination of strong front office personality and experience. They should also trade away whatever they can of Lopez, Young and Johnson. They should definitely look for a bull market opportunity. There are assets to be had in return if new management is put in place. If the get back to basics, this team could have a healthy amount of draft picks, a larger share of New York City demographics and a strong identity as a team and organization within a few short years, say three-to-five.
Scenario Two
This is the world where a crazy Russian billionaire prefers to live life like the captain of a sinking ship that prefers to live with the expectation that every year is a championship year.
In this world, Prokhorov and his staff decide that dropping $120 million on John Calipari is, like, totally worth it. So, who needs a Colangelo and who needs draft picks? Nicholas Batum? Max contract! DeMar Derozan? Max contract! Matthew Dellavedova? Max contract! Donald Trump? Max contract! You get my point. Calipari doesn’t have a proven track record, shouldn’t be given unlimited control, and carries a price tag that really should be out of everyone’s range.
Then Prokhorov reaps the rewards of his poorly planned championship dynasty. Joe Johnson also sees out his contract, then walks. Jarrett Jack comes back, but his body doesn’t. Somehow, they decide that trading for Tyson Chandler or Joakim Noah is the best idea. Boston uses the Brooklyn picks and drafts the players that turn into their core for the next 10 years under head coaching great Brad Stevens.
Somewhere Between Extremes
The Nets have already shown some signs that the decision making has shifted away from the Russian and it looks promising. It is likely that they have the funds and lure of control of the front office to make a real run at Colangelo, no one else on the market could transform the front office in all aspects any better – the guiding hand Brooklyn needs. Thibodeau would be interesting, presumably making a weak Nets defense leaps better. Plus, if there is anyone who knows how squeeze effort and minutes out of a roster, Thibs is the man for the job.
If they can get that part right, trading current talent for future assets would be beneficial for them though a great opportunity may not readily present itself. In that case, they would be better off demonstrating some patience instead of rushing in with a blatant disregard for the future of the franchise.
In all, the Nets have no easy way back into contention. If they really want it, they are going to have to wait. They still have years of reaping the results of haphazardly dealing picks and taking on bloated contracts of players past their prime.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
