Rod is in and Kiki is out and the new Nets owner is going to personally recruit free agents come July 1.
Those are some of the salient points Mikhail Prokhorov made in a Midtown sitdown this morning with a handful of reporters, team officials and Prokhorov’s personal assistant. The biggest news was that GM and interim head coach Kiki Vandeweghe will not be retained when his contract expires July 1.
“When his contract is up, I wish him well.” Prokhorov said during the 90-minute meeting.
Rod Thorn, whom Prokhorov recently called “one of the best in the league,” will remain as team president and the two sides are working on a contract extension. But Prokhorov plans to take the Nets pursuit of free agents into his own hands. He said his pitch will include the metropolitan area and the Nets as truly the first “global franchise.”
“If you like good climate you can play in Miami,” the Russian owner said.
The Nets can’t include John Wall in their recruiting pitch to free agents after the team with the NBA’s worst record ended with the third pick last night at the draft lottery. But Prokhorov said he believes the team’s biggest need is to get a power forward to play alongside center Brook Lopez. They can address that in the draft with Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors or Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins. Or Prokhorov can wait and attack the weak spot in free agency with Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer potential options for the Nets.
Because of the NBA’s tampering rules, Prokhorov cannot discuss any free agents until July 1. That includes LeBron James, who was brought up to Prokhorov on two occasions this morning. Both times he played coy.
“I am sorry, I never heard of that name,” Prokhorov said.
The Nets surely will have to add at least one big-name free agent to reach Prokhorov’s lofty goals of making the playoffs next season and winning a championship within five years, which he reiterated today.
“In Russia, five years is an eternity,” Prokhorov said.
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The Nets also will be looking for a new coach.
Prokhorov said the team wants someone who has previous NBA coaching experience.
“(Mike) Krzyzewski is a great coach, but I want someone with NBA experience,” said Prokhorov after speculation that he would pursue the Duke coach, who has denied any interest in coaching the Nets.
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Before Prokhorov set his sights on the Nets, an investment banker approached him about buying the Knicks, the billionaire claimed today.
But Prokhorov passed before any talks had begun.
“I didn’t need a network,” Prokhorov said of the Cablevision-owned Knicks.