Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is still championing the same cause that buried his team beneath a pile of rubble from which they cannot escape.
Let’s see how that works out for him.
Howard Beck of Bleacher Report dropped some knowledge for anyone hoping the Nets, who don’t have the rights to their own first-round pick until 2019, to become sellers at the trade deadline:
A note on Nets GM search: Prokhorov, I'm told, has made clear he is absolutely opposed to a roster teardown. He wants to keep Lopez/Young.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) February 10, 2016
Rather than rebuild, Prokhorov is convinced Nets can keep Lopez/Young, sign free agents in July and quickly get back in playoff chase.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) February 10, 2016
If that sounds crazy to you, good. It is crazy.
Even rival scouts and general managers think so:
I'll add this, re Nets: Most GMs/scouts I've surveyed in recent weeks have agreed: Best bet is auction off Lopez/Young and restock w/youth.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) February 10, 2016
Finding a general manager and coach that wants to be a part of this mess is going to be tough. The Nets can carve out $30 million-plus in cap space this summer, and perhaps they’ll get lucky. Lopez is a legitimate All-Star candidate year in and year out, and Young makes for a terrifying No. 3 or No. 4 option. That might be enough to attract a pair of second-tier free agents.
But the Nets’ track record is scary, and the absence of any picks or up-and-coming talent, other than rookie Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, is going to carry weight. Brooklyn will still be fresh off canning Lionel Hollins and cutting bait with Deron Williams when they meet with prospect targets in July, and their sales pitch, at this point, is limited to Lopez, Young, RHJ and the New York market—a market that’s already dominated by the New York Knicks.
It makes more sense for the Nets to retain everyone not named Rondae, try to amass as many picks and prospects as possible and hope that, in the end, they hit on a few of those picks and prospects, thus allowing them to rebuild the right way
