New Jersey Nets' owner Mikhail Prokhorov is apparently 'blog-friendly.' Prokhorov answered some questions from SB Nation's NetsDaily earlier this week, and provided some interesting insights.
↵I particularly liked this exchange between NetsDaily and Prokhorov.
↵↵↵NetsDaily: The Nets have switched gears dramatically in the off-season, from going after big names—"the very best of the best" in your words—to rebuilding with very young players. This has caused a lot of concern among fans. You talk about the goals being "intact". How can that be when in fact the team’s whole direction has now changed?
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Mikhail Prokhorov: I have spoken before about having many plans at the ready to achieve our goal, which remains the playoffs in one year and a championship within five years. This is the way I approach all of my businesses. It allows me to stay flexible and to be prepared for changing circumstances.
Under what we call our Plan A, there were only ever three top free agents we were interested in paying top dollar for. When it became clear (and, as you know, I predicted this early on), that all three were likely to go to Miami, we did not want to bring other big name players on board around whom, in our opinion, we could not build a winning club. Don’t forget, we’re not building a top five team, we’re building a championship team and that requires a completely different strategy. Then it becomes clear that other top names who can’t bring us a championship on their own are not worth splurging on.
So we have shifted our focus to building a team with great potential under Plan B. We have the youngest team in the NBA and we can give our players the best chance for progress, especially with the talents of Avery Johnson, who is a killer coaching coach. And here I see no contradiction with Plan A: We are in a perfect position to take advantage of any opportunities on the market. We have plenty of cap space and tradeable assets, if needed. Finally, as a businessman, it gives me pleasure to know we don’t have a single player who is overpaid. On the contrary, each of them is potentially undervalued.
Be sure to head on over to NetsDaily for the full interview.
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