Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis of The New York Post are back with another update on the potential Nets sale, reporting that prospective bidders for the franchise have been pushing owner Mikhail Prokhorov to sell a controlling interest in the team. Prokhorov is reportedly interested in selling a 49% stake with a path for a new minority owner to purchase a controlling interest within three years, but potential buyers are hoping to gain control of the club immediately.
“They’re asking, but I don’t think he’s giving in,” one source close to the discussions tells Kosman and Lewis. However, another source suggested that he wouldn’t be shocked if Prokhorov surrenders full control immediately.
While it remains to be seen what a sale will look like, a deal could be announced in the coming days or weeks, sources tell The Post. According to Kosman and Lewis, at least two “New York financial titans” are believed to be among the potential suitors, along with a Texas-based group that lost the bidding for the Rockets. Former Knicks and MSG president Dave Checketts is also rumored to be involved in a group of prospective buyers, sources tell The Post.
Here’s more on the Nets, as we wait to see how the sale process will play out:
- Nets general manager Sean Marks says that he’s conducting business as usual amidst the ownership rumors, Lewis writes in a separate article for The New York Post. According to Marks, he has had an open line of communication with Prokhorov and speaks to him regularly, so he doesn’t expect to be caught off guard by news of a sale.
- Newly-acquired swingman Allen Crabbe is the Nets’ highest-paid player by more than $4MM in 2017/18, but he may not open the season as a starter, as Lewis details for The Post.
- Brooklyn made several changes to its roster in the offseason, including trading long-tenured center Brook Lopez and adding new core pieces like Crabbe, D’Angelo Russell, and Jarrett Allen. Will the team be any better than the 2016/17 Nets? Lewis examines that question in his season preview for The Post.
- Bryan Fonseca of NetsDaily has an interesting piece on the entrepreneurial off-court interests of Nets forward Trevor Booker, who hopes to one day become a billionaire.