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July 6, 2012
Dwight Howard deal would cost Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov $107.5M over next four years
From brand new Barclays Center to trading for Joe Johnson, Mikhail Prokhorov is doing whatever it takes to build Nets franchise.
NY Daily News
by Stefan Bondy
Mikhail Prokhorov has more than 100 million reasons to halt the Dwight Howard chase. But it helps to be the richest owner in all of American sports.
Prokhorov, unlike the vast number of NBA owners, has pooh-poohed the idea of a revamped luxury tax, bankrolling the Nets’ uninhibited spending and star chasing this offseason. If the Nets pull off a trade with Orlando for Howard and, assuming they re-sign Howard to a max deal and keep the contracts of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace, Prokhorov will pay a luxury tax of approximately $107.5 million over the next four years, according to a league source.
None of this would be possible without Prokhorov: not the $1 billion arena nearly complete in Brooklyn, not the trading for Johnson’s supposedly untradeable contract, and not the continued chase for Howard while approaching cap hell.
NoLandGrab: And let's never mind worrying how Prokhorov, ahem, "earned" those billions. To paraphrase Mike Bloomberg, no one will remember how the former Soviet Union was plundered by ex-KGB agents and their Oligarch cronies, they'll just know that the Nets could acquire Joe Johnson's absurdly expensive contract.
Related coverage...
NetsDaily, Prokhorov Willing to Spend...A LOT
Mikhail Prokhorov had a good day Thursday. According to the Forbes Real Time Billionaire Tracker, he made $26.37 million or almost enough to pay for Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace's salaries next season...in a day! Its that kind of wealth and the willingness to spend it that separates Prokhorov from most NBA owners ... and those who previously controlled the Nets.
...All of this has concerned salary cap weenies and Mark Cuban, but not Avery Johnson. "When he first bought the team, he said he would do whatever it took to build a championship team."
NLG: Though "salary cap weenies" know that the Nets are subject to a hard cap, so it's likely they will have to pull a couple hotdog vendors from the stands to fill out their roster.
Keegan's Kickoff, Make it Nashty
Keegan may have taken one too many kickoffs to the noggin.
This Nets team is going to be awesome. D-Will, top 3 point guard. Joe Johnson, all star. Gerald Wallace can guard anyone. Kris Humphries-Kardashian isn't bad but that's why they got Mr. Energy Reggie Evans to push Kristopher Kardashian. New sign at the top of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn....NO KARDASHIANS ALLOWED.
NLG: A "No Kardashians" sign would be less offensive than the Barclays logo, certainly.
Posted by eric at July 6, 2012 10:01 AM