Proky: We need "one more good player" to become elite

Post #1 » by **NyCeEvO** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 7:23 pm

Prokhorov: We need one more good player
April, 22, 2013 2:52 PM ET
By Mike Mazzeo | ESPNNewYork.com

The Brooklyn Nets may not be one of the teams in the NBA just yet, but owner Mikhail Prokhorov thinks they can get there if two things happen.

“One more good player, and we need time to make a really strong team,” Prokhorov told Bloomberg Television during an interview in Moscow last Friday.

Getting another good player, however, will be challenging because the Nets are well over the salary cap. After this season, their best chance of doing so will likely be trying to package the $12 million expiring contract of Kris Humphries, a young player on a cheap deal like MarShon Brooks and future draft picks.

IMO, I think he's going to push hard for an S&T for Josh Smith, especially if ATL strikes out on D12 and CP3.

And since CP3 has been talking about the Clippers as if he'll definitely be there next year, I don't think ATL we'll attract him away from LA. And with no CP3, there's definitely no chance that Dwight would to go to ATL.

Ronito · Post #2 » by **Ronito** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 8:08 pm

I don't think the CBA lets us sign-and-trade now. Someone with more knowledge of the CBA can clear that up.

But ya, start looking for a 4 or 3 that will be in a contract year or could be had in general.

vincecarter4pres · Post #3 » by **vincecarter4pres** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:23 pm

Yeah we would have to make salary clearing deals first in order to complete any S&T, it would be quite difficult.

The only possibility with Smith is Atlanta re-signs him to a fat near max deal without even wanting him long term for no other reason then they know they can turn around and deal him at the deadline, kind of like Nene and Denver and now what looks likely with Eric Gordon and New Orleans.

I still think they're going to try and push hard for Kevin Love, although depending on how Brook keeps playing in the playoffs they may not entertain a swap, so only if it were a ridiculous ripoff deal that only Lakers fans would call fair lol.

I also wouldn't be shocked to see them put together some huge quantity over quality deal in order to move way up in the draft, like top 3 or 5 if they can in a deal like how Minny landed the #6 from Washington to take Rubio. Proky's comments of adding one player and then needing time to become strong could be subtle hints at that. It could be someone who comes in and provides a sufficient instant impact but with huge long term upside and future/instant trade value.

Paradise · Post #4 » by **Paradise** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:02 pm

As much as a S&T will be damn near impossible, crazier things have happened. Proky knows the Power Forward position and even coaching is the biggest weakness of the team.

He's got a very good understanding and Josh Smith would be the perfect fit next to Lopez and the perfect Forward to throw at LeBron, Carmelo defensively.

I'm confidence we will end up with a very good piece this off-season.

N Ireland Nets · Post #5 » by **N Ireland Nets** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:41 pm

Near impossible for a sign and trade to happen in the summer.

We'll shop around and see who is available on draft night. If someone blows the front office away in pre draft workouts we could make a move up the draft board to take the player we want.

Next option will be making a trade pre training camp in the summer.

If nothing of note comes up then we wait till the deadline to move a hugely valuable expiring in Hump. Why's it so valuable? Well the new lux tax starts to kick in soon and a lot of teams will feel the pinch which we can take advantage of.

I believe a lot of people will be surprised by who is going to be available either pre next season or pre deadline next year.

I still believe there is a good chance AK47 is a Brooklyn Net in the summer. Bogs to join Brooklyn in the summer of 2014.

Paradise · Post #6 » by **Paradise** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:55 pm

Post #7 » by **NyCeEvO** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:03 am

So we're already on the books for about $85mil next year.

If the tax level were at $70mil next year (for argument's sake), Proky would have to pay $28.75mil in luxury tax penalties.

Billy King has Proky spending $115mil next year (and barring any big trades) we won't even be a contender next year.

Something tells me Proky is not going to let BK come back :lol:

Jersey Generals · Post #8 » by **Jersey Generals** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:00 am

NyCeEvO wrote:Something tells me Proky is not going to let BK come back

Don't need to have a sneaking suspicion about it. BK's pretty much already gone.

MrDollarBills · Post #9 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:35 pm

If we weren't spending 10 mil per on Gerald Wallace and had drafted Harrison Barnes, we would have been in a much better position.

Billy King should be fired, and we should call Phil Jackson immediatly.

Born_Ready · Post #10 » by **Born_Ready** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:35 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:If we weren't spending 10 mil per on Gerald Wallace and had drafted Harrison Barnes, we would have been in a much better position.

Billy King should be fired, and we should call Phil Jackson immediatly.

I could not agree more with your entire take. You hit the nail on the head.

Post #11 » by **NyCeEvO** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 6:18 pm

It just blows my mind how King can't see that he needs to have cap space to make moves and improve the team.

You can't trade for the worst contracts in the league and still expect to make moves.

He personally cost Proky 20mil+ in luxury tax AND he's almost definitely prevented us from acquiring another good player because of his terrible method for improving the team.

bobbyc · Post #12 » by **bobbyc** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:35 pm

Instead of trading for Gerald Wallace and we waited and traded for Josh Smith, we would have been elite this playoffs.

Probably still wouldn't beat the Heat though.

Post #13 » by **CalamityX12** » Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:44 pm

or make a play at rudy gay.....

SpeedyG · Post #14 » by **SpeedyG** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:01 pm

#BOJANISCOMING

MrDollarBills · Post #15 » by **MrDollarBills** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:28 pm

NyCeEvO wrote:It just blows my mind how King can't see that he needs to have cap space to make moves and improve the team.

You can't trade for the worst contracts in the league and still expect to make moves.

He personally cost Proky 20mil+ in luxury tax AND he's almost definitely prevented us from acquiring another good player because of his terrible method for improving the team.

Deron's lack of commitment was also apart of the equation, which also added into the lack of foresight displayed by King.

Post #16 » by **NyCeEvO** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 4:37 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:
NyCeEvO wrote:It just blows my mind how King can't see that he needs to have cap space to make moves and improve the team.

You can't trade for the worst contracts in the league and still expect to make moves.

He personally cost Proky 20mil+ in luxury tax AND he's almost definitely prevented us from acquiring another good player because of his terrible method for improving the team.

Deron's lack of commitment was also apart of the equation, which also added into the lack of foresight displayed by King.

I know D-Will can partly be blamed for what not committing but BK could've done several other moves that would've netted us a better player than JJ or provided a much better financial situation for us in the future.

Considering Dirk's age and the lasting imprint of Lopez dominating Dallas last year, I think D-Will valued playing with Dirk at the end of his career for 2-3 year max and playing with Lopez for 5+ years through his prime AT BEST as on the same level. IMO, they canceled each other out.

After that, you only needed to get a player that was better than Shawn Marion (since Dallas only had Marion and Dirk as important pieces on the roster when D-Will was deciding where to play). Couple that with an extra year and $25mil due to the CBA to stay in Brooklyn, I think the decision for him to stay in Brooklyn was much easier than he was letting on.

The assets of a 6th overall pick (which ended up being Damian Lillard), 4 year/$40mil contract, 2014 & 2015 1st round pick swap, expiring contracts/players on very cheap deals would be sweet return for ANY team looking to trade any player save LBJ and Durant.

That's a ton of assets right there and the best that BK did was JJ and Wallace on overpaid, cap killing contracts to ensure that we're paying luxury tax and to prevent us from having the flexibility to substantially build on our core.

Bringerofrain · Post #17 » by **Bringerofrain** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 4:57 pm

As a die-hard Knicks fan here i will say this. I actually am rooting for you guys to beat the Bulls. Reguardless that Miami destroyed you guys 4 games in the regular season, i think you guys do have a punchers chance. Tonight though is very pivotal so hopefully BK can come alive take homecourt back!!!

therealbig3 · Post #18 » by **therealbig3** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:20 pm

I could never really agree though with the people that kept saying D-Will held this franchise hostage and forced Billy King to make these stupid moves. D-Will said as soon as he was traded here that he wasn't going to extend and that he was going to test free agency. He remained consistent on that point. We had 1.5 years to get a plan together in order to improve the roster around him. Granted, we spent pretty much all of that time to go for Dwight Howard. Fair enough, it's not very often that a top 3 player (at the time) demands the Nets of all teams, so you should go for it. But not having a backup plan in case "**** happens" was moronic. Even more moronic, panicking and trading away your best asset for nothing was disastrous. None of this was D-Will forcing King's hand, imo.

D-Will wanted to exercise his right as a free agent. You cannot blame him for that or for a lack of commitment to the Nets, especially since we're not the model way to run an organization, and Billy King sucks.

Billy King panicking and throwing away a draft pick on a player that D-Will didn't even like (seriously, he's made no mention of Wallace as a reason for staying, it's all been JJ) is 100% on Billy King. A REAL GM (pun intended) would have had the foresight to realize that Wallace isn't a make or break deal in terms of convincing D-Will...and that it's moronic anyway to trade that pick for anything less than a superstar...and that D12 opting in only bought the Magic time and that D12 would be back on the trading block in the summer, in which case, that draft pick would have been incredibly valuable in a trade. James Harden was also traded in the summer, and none of the draft picks the Thunder got back were as good as ours. And JJ, who D-Will liked so much, was ALWAYS available, we could have traded for him whenever we wanted. We could have signed Wallace as a free agent as well, since we offered him more money than anyone else.

D-Will didn't hold the franchise hostage, he was doing what was his right to do. The fact that the ceiling of this team is only so high is 100% on Billy King.

Jersey Generals · Post #19 » by **Jersey Generals** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:15 pm

Jersey Generals wrote:Don't need to have a sneaking suspicion about it. BK's pretty much already gone.

Sorry, guys, my information was incorrect. I misread something that a lawyer friend of mine said to me. Apologies.

vincecarter4pres · Post #20 » by **vincecarter4pres** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:31 pm

Jersey Generals wrote:
Jersey Generals wrote:Don't need to have a sneaking suspicion about it. BK's pretty much already gone.

Sorry, guys, my information was incorrect. I misread something that a lawyer friend of mine said to me. Apologies.

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