Report: Danny Ferry And Billy King Emerge As Finalists For Nets President

According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets are closing in on two finalists for their team president vacancy. Rod Thorn's successor in New Jersey is still undecided, but according to Wojnarowski, Billy King and Danny Ferry are top candidates.

Both have significant front office experience in the NBA—Ferry with Spurs and Cavaliers, King with the Philadelphia 76ers—but neither has enjoyed much success of late.

That's why they're available.

Ferry's front office leadership helped guide the Cavaliers to two-straight first place finishes in the Eastern Conference, but each of the past two seasons, the Cavs bowed out in the playoffs earlier than expected. That, and some of the personnel decisions he made left Cleveland financially hamstrung, paying lots of money to an aging roster, leaving the door open for LeBron James to go elsewhere. We all know how that turned out.

As for Billy King, before being replaced by former-Nets GM Ed Stefanski, King is the man who traded for a barely-walking Chris Webber, dealt Allen Iverson to Denver for Andre Miller, and perhaps best of all, spent more than $180 million in contracts for Dikembe Mutombo, Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, and Sam Dalembert. That's quite the quartet, huh?

For all his failures, say this much for Billy King: his incompetence certainly leaves a mark.

And what's the common denominator then? They both went to Duke.

And to that point, Mikhail Prokhorov, for all his virtues as an owner, needs to understand something about the NBA. The Duke guys? They don't do so well. It's a good rule of thumb.

(Am I serious with this? A little.)

On the surface, both guys are credible candidates for Nets president, but then, so are Duke draftees. Look closer, though, and you'll see cracks in the shiny veneer, and some real red flags. Neither King nor Ferry has been great over the course of their management career, and for Prokhorov, a man with championship aspirations, it just feels like... 

Well, it just feels like he can do better than these two guys.

Hornets' Jeff Bower Latest To Reject Nets General Manager Position

Jeff Bower, currently the general manager of the Charlotte Hornets, has rejected the opportunity to stake over for Rod Thorn this month according to a report from USA Today.

In a statement released by the Hornets on Tuesday, Bower said he appreciated an opportunity to discuss the opening with the Nets, but says he does not believe it’s the right fit at this time for New Jersey or himself.

The Nets recently hired head coach Avery Johnson, a New Orleans native who Bower and the Hornets passed over for their coaching job before selecting first-time head coach Monty Williams instead.

I would be willing to guess that the Nets won’t find a replacement for Thorn until the big name free agents announce their destinations.

Dumars Not Interested In Nets

Joe Dumars will not be replacing Rod Thorn as President of the New Jersey Nets.

Dumars issued a statement Monday saying “I do not have any interest in a basketball operations position with the Nets.”

That is a pretty definitive answer from Dumars. So, what do the Nets do now?

Nets President Rod Thorn May Be Reconsidering Retirement

When New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn was said to plan on retiring two weeks into free agency, it seemed that there might have still been some desire to keep working in basketball.

That perception is witnessed around the league according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

Two league execs with ties to NJ’s Rod Thorn think he may yet reconsider retirement and stay. “I think he still wants to work,” one says.

One reason he might have wanted to retire, according to New York Daily News writer Julia Garcia, was the “perception of Russian spies in New Jersey Nets offices.”

Thorn denied that report, however, categorically saying that was a lie.

“That’s not right,” Thorn said. “And I’m really serious, that’s not right. The new ownership has been great to me. I think they’re going to be the best owners in the league.”

Star-Ledger: Sources Confirm Rod Thorn Will Step Down

While the Associated Press was unable to confirm ESPN’s report that Rod Thorn plans to step down from his position as president and general manager of the New Jersey Nets, Dave D’Alessandro of NJ.com writes that sources in the organization have confirmed the report.

For nearly a month, the worst-kept secret throughout the Nets organization was that team president Rod Thorn was refusing to sign his two-year contract extension for a valid reason: His wife, Peggy, was strongly urging the 69-year-old executive to retire.

Thorn finally gave in last week, two Nets officials disclosed after requesting anonymity tonight, confirming an ESPN report that Thorn will step down shortly after the free agency signing period on July 8.

Updates on the situation can be found on SB Nation’s NetsDaily.

Associated Press: Rod Thorn Won't Confirm Report He Plans To Step Down

The Associated Press attempted to confirm ESPN’s report that New Jersey Nets president and general manager Rod Thorn has decided to leave the team. Tom Canavan writes that Thorn’s response to questions about his future was not totally clear.

Thorn gave a cryptic `’we’ll see” response and then laughed on Friday when asked when he would sign a new contract and how long he intended to stay on the job.

“Thanks for asking,” Thorn said, ending the conversation.

Be sure to check SB Nation’s NetsDaily for all the latest developments.

New Jersey Nets President Rod Thorn To Step Down

Rod Thorn, the President of Basketball Operartions for the New Jersey Nets, will step down from his position on July 15 according to ESPN's Chris Broussard.

Thorn is under contract through June 30 but will remain for two weeks to help the club through the first two weeks of the free-agency period according to the ESPN report.  The report also mentions that Thorn is not being forced out by the Nets' new owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, and there is no tension between the two.

Thorn was named executive of the year in 2002 after the Nets went to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history and was also the general manager of the Bulls when Chicago landed Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.

Broussard speculates that this could hurt the Nets run at a big-time free agent as well.

The move leaves the Nets in a quandary. There is no apparent successor within the organization and the uncertainty will undoubtedly hurt the Nets' ability to recruit free agents.

Be sure to check SB Nation's NetsDaily as more develops on this story.