Mikhail Prokhorov Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Noel, Nets, Thomas

April 11th, 2015 at 2:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nerlens Noel’s rookie season with the Sixers has not established whether he will be in the team’s long-term plans, Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. While he has shown offensive improvement by recording double-doubles in 11 of his last 22 games, Noel is shooting just 29% from the field on attempts more than three feet from the basket, Ford points out. Noel has yet to prove he can play power forward and mesh with Joel Embiid, who can only play center, Ford adds. The deadline trade of Michael Carter-Williams shows that Philadelphia is capable of shifting gears despite management claims that Noel is a major building block, Ford concludes.

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

Robert Covington‘s scoring ability may have earned him a role with the Sixers next season, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Covington is slated to make approximately $2MM over the next two seasons but the money is not guaranteed. His long-range shooting ability, which creates space for big men Noel and Embiid, may convince the Sixers to keep him around, Pompey opines. “You need people to stretch the floor,” Sixers coach Brett Brown said to Pompey.
The Nets will need to continue paying the luxury tax to remain competitive and majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov is willing to do that, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post reports. The Nets are approximately $11.6MM over the tax line this season and could exceed it again if Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young exercise their player options and the club retains restricted free agent Mirza Teletovic, Bontemps continues. Lacking a first-round pick in 2016, the Nets don’t have the option of selling off assets to remain competitive, Bontemps adds. Prokhorov has shown a willingness to spend whatever is necessary to have a contender and vowed to continue that strategy, according to Bontemps. “If we need to pay a little bit more than any other teams, it’s not an obstacle,” Prokhorov said during a press conference this week.
Isaiah Thomas has significantly improved the Celtics’ pick-and-roll offense and given them a reliable fourth-quarter option, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes. Using Synergy Sports Data, Forsberg points out that Thomas ranks in the 93rd percentile among all NBA players as a pick-and-roll ballhandler while the Celtics ranked 28th in that category before the Thomas acquisition. Thomas had also scored a larger percentage of his points in the fourth quarter than any player who has scored at least 800 points, Forsberg continues while using Elias Sports Bureau data. Boston’s offensive rating is significantly better with Thomas on the court and that tends to outweigh his defensive shortcomings, Forsberg adds.

Eastern Rumors: Copeland, Jackson, Nets

April 9th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Chris Copeland is intensive care in a New York hospital and will remain there for the next two or three days, a source tells ESPN’s Josina Anderson (Twitlonger link). The Pacers combo forward and soon-to-be free agent was the victim of a stabbing early Wednesday morning, and the attack left him with a punctured diaphragm, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He also suffered lacerations on his left hand, Anderson hears. Copeland didn’t engage in an argument or initiate any altercation, a source tells Buckner. While we hope for the best for Copeland, here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Knicks owner James Dolan expressed continued faith in team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills and again insisted that he wouldn’t meddle with the team as he spoke in an interview with Matthew Belloni of The Hollywood Reporter. “You got to believe, baby!” Dolan said, when asked if Jackson is still worth his $12MM annual salary. “I believe, I believe!”
The Nets want Brook Lopez back, as owner Mikhail Prokhorov on Wednesday made clear to reporters, including Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Still, the owner acknowledged the primary choice rests with the center, who has a player option worth more than $16.744MM, as Bontemps relays. “We need him,” Prokhorov said. “I think the Brooklyn Nets, it’s his home.”
Brooklyn would pay the repeater tax if they’re a taxpayer again next season, and the return of Lopez would make that a strong possibility. Still, Prohorov said he’d be willing to do so, Bontemps notes. Prokhorov also insists he never sought to sell a majority stake in the Nets and said that while he’s been approached by 10 people with interest in buying a minority share, there’s nothing on the table for now, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
The Cavs have some interest in Salah Mejri, a center playing for Spain’s Real Madrid, as Chema de Lucas of Gigantes Del Basket hears (translation via HoopsHype). The 28-year-old who went undrafted in 2008 is averaging 4.6 points and 2.4 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game.

Nets Rumors: Chemistry, Changes, Prokhorov

March 14th, 2015 at 10:15am CST by Dana Gauruder

Poor chemistry has led to a disappointing season for the Nets, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes. Injuries and underachieving players have forced coach Lionel Hollins to constantly tinker with his rotation, leading to 17 different lineup changes, Bontemps adds. “[Chemistry is] very fragile,” Hollins said to the team’s beat reporters. “You constantly have to work at it, and adversity is the first thing that can kill chemistry. You have a little adversity and something happens and it splits, and then you have to get it back. It’s a time-consuming thing to get chemistry, and then you have some success and you have a little more adversity and then it goes back again. It’s hard to define why. You just have it, or you don’t.”

In other news concerning the Nets:

The team’s management plans to revamp the roster to bring in younger, more athletic players, according to a story on the team’s official website nba.com/nets. GM Billy King promised season-ticket holders in a conference call on Thursday that roster changes were coming this summer. “I think it could turn around really quickly,” King said in the call. “We’re going to explore every option to continue to add some athleticism so we can be a better defensive team, become a more athletic team, so we can get out and run. That’s the plan. We’ll look and explore every option. There will be no stone unturned as we go forward.”
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is no longer seeking to sell a majority interest in the team, according to Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson of the New York Post. Negotiations to sell the team never became serious because of uncertainty over Prokhorov’s interest in also selling the rights to Barclays Center, sources told the Post. Prokhorov is now actively shopping a minority interest in the team that does not include a sale of the arena, the Post adds. Evercore Partners, an investment banking firm Prokhorov hired to help facilitate a prospective sale of the team, made the decision to end their relationship with the Nets.
Prokhorov recently quit the Russian political party he founded, Civil Platform, and his motivation may have included his desire to protect foreign assets such as the Nets, according to an rt.com story. A relatively new Russian law that prevents senior officials and legislators from possessing foreign bank accounts and securities could have spurred Prokhorov’s decision, the story reveals.

Nets Notes: Sale, Karasev, Prokhorov, 2016

March 13th, 2015 at 12:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Evercore Partners, an investment banking firm Mikhail Prokhorov hired to help facilitate a prospective sale of the team, made the decision to end their relationship with the Nets, and not the other way around, as previously indicated, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com. Prokhorov and company would prefer to sell a minority stake in the club, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily reported previously and as Ozanian reiterates, calling it the primary holdup for the sale of any portion of the team. The “sale process was a mess,” a sports banker tells Ozanian, who also hears that interest from would-be buyers has been weak. There’s plenty more on the Nets, as we detail:

The Nets anticipate that Sergey Karasev will be healthy in time for training camp next season, the team announced. The 2013 19th overall pick underwent season-ending surgery on his right knee.
Prokhorov is much less of a presence around the Nets than he used to be, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, who cites all the shortcomings of the team as he goes over reasons why the owner might want to hide.
Almost every team is set to be able to open cap room for a maximum-salary contract in the summer of 2016, but Tim Bontemps of the New York Post believes free agents are more likely to choose the Nets and Knicks over small market clubs that lack contending cores.

Atlantic Notes: Prokhorov, Bargnani, Smart

March 5th, 2015 at 10:20pm CST by Will Joseph

Nets CEO Brett Yormark told reporters, including John Brennan of The Record, that he does not “think anything’s gonna happen” and that “we have an ownership group that is very committed,” when asked about rumors of a sale of the team by Mikhail Prokhorov. Yormark also added to the pressures of the Nets, who dropped from the eighth seed to the 10th seed after Wednesday’s loss to the Hornets, by saying he wants the team to “own” New York City.

“This market is very competitive,” Yormark said. “As much as I say we don’t compete against the Knicks or the Garden, we do. That’s the reality of it. I’m opportunistic, right? They’re struggling, and – it’s going to be cyclical. So I want to own this city. That’s critical for us. I think the way you own it is by winning and getting to the playoffs this year.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Andrea Bargnani, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, and who missed all but two of New York’s first 51 games with leg injuries, has stepped up in scoring for the Knicks with Carmelo Anthony out for the season, Peter Botte of The New York Daily News writes. The veteran big man has averaged 17.8 PPG over his last five contests. Bargnani was a buyout candidate as the March 1st deadline for waived players to still be playoff eligible approached.
Citing Kevin Garnett‘s sharp statistical decline, Andy Vasquez of The Record opines the Nets are a better team since they traded the future Hall of Famer for Thaddeus Young. In his first seven games as a member of the Nets, Young is averaging 12.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per night. Garnett has made four appearances for the Wolves, contributing 8.5 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 19.3 minutes per game since the swap.
Marcus Smart, who was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for February, is having a growing impact on the Celtics and as a result, Boston coach Brad Stevens’ confidence in the point guard has increased, Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com writes.

Latest On Nets, Hawks Sales

March 4th, 2015 at 1:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

WEDNESDAY, 1:20pm: Investor and Lionsgate Entertainment chairman Mark Rachesky is joining the Frankel-Itzler-Starker bid, league sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. At least one of the groups with interest in the Hawks is willing to pay more than $900MM, a source tells Stein, though it’s unclear if that total would include bonds tied to the arena that aren’t part of the franchise value, as Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com recently suggested. Stein also adds the names of Indonesian sports and media moguls Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo to the group fronted by baseball legend Hank Aaron. Wilkins, the Hawks icon and current front office executive for the team, is expected to be a “prominent” member of a bidding group, Stein also hears.

12:23pm: Geffen tells Peter Newcomb of Bloomberg News that he’s not interested in buying the Nets, as Newcomb’s Bloomberg colleague Scott Soshnick tweets.

MONDAY, 8:54am: The Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun is bidding for the Hawks and has interest in the Nets, report Josh Kosman and Claire Atkinson of the New York Post, who hear from a sports banker who believes the Hawks will strike a deal with a new owner in six weeks. The investment fund for the government of the nation of Qatar and former interim Clippers CEO Dick Parsons are also among those interested in the Nets, a franchise that multiple sports bankers believe would sell for as much as $2 billion, according to Kosman and Atkinson. Impresario David Geffen is also considering a run at the Nets, Kosman and Atkinson write, renewing apparent interest from the past. The Post scribes also identify “two wealthy U.S. families” as parties eyeing the Nets.

One of the bankers to whom Kosman and Atkinson spoke disputed an earlier report that the NBA is mandating that current Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov attach his 45% stake in the Barclays Center to his 80% share of the team, saying that the league hasn’t made a decision. The league is promising a verdict on the matter soon, but the confusion over just what’s a part of the sale is causing complication, Kosman and Atkinson hear. Bruce Ratner’s Forest City Enterprises has confirmed it’s shopping its 20% stake in the team, though Prokhorov’s camp has been reluctant to make the same pronouncement regarding its interest in a sale.

The Qatari investment fund seems an unusual bidder, though it has existing connections to the sports world. It owns a French soccer team, as Robert Windrem of NetsDaily points out. It also has ties to the NBA through beIN, a French sports television channel, the NetsDaily scribe tweets. Others linked to the Nets include former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, investor David Bonderman and hedge fund manager David Einhorn, as well as Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The same banker who suggested the Hawks sale will be complete in six weeks tells Kosman and Atkinson that he believes the NBA would like to see the Hawks sold before the Nets are. A deadline for preliminary bids for the Atlanta franchise passed last week, and a long list of potential buyers exists. Tampa Bay Rays part-owner Randy Frankel is teaming with rapper-turned-entrepreneur Jesse Itzler and brokerage firm founder Steven Starker in one bid. Former NBA players Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman, former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, and neuropsychologist Richard Chaifetz are partnering for another. The owners of Atlanta’s WNBA team, Kelly Loeffler and Mary Brock, along with their husbands, Jeffrey Sprecher and John Brock, are also reportedly interested in bidding for the Hawks. Former players Dominique Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber, former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien, attorney Doug Davis and Seattle-focused investors Chris Hansen and Thomas Tull have been linked to the club, too.