The Brooklyn Nets Are Now For Sale

Credit: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

A Bloomberg News report states that the willful Russian Billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets, Mikhail Prokhorov, has decided to put the team up for sale. Prokhorov has owned the team since 2010 and was a key cog to facilitate the move from New Jersey to Brooklyn.

The Bloomberg Report goes on to say, “Prokhorov, 49, the first foreign owner of an NBA team, holds 80 percent of the club and 45 percent of the Barclays Center, its a 2 1/2-year-old arena which next season will house hockey’s New York Islanders; Only the team is for sale” (Scott Shosnick Bloomberg News).

Prokhrov purchased the team for 223 million in 2010 and has not hesitated to spend loads of money to make the Nets a contender, such as acquiring the contracts of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett as well as holding a few overpaid players on their roster such as Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries.

The Nets haven’t been as successful as Mikhail had hoped, which must be frustrating after the Nets lost $144 million  in 2013, which was $131 million largest than the next team. Since only the team is for sale this means Prokhorov is focused more on the real estate that he owns that came apart of the deal with purchasing the Nets.

The Brooklyn Nets now join the Atlanta Hawks as the two NBA teams that are for sale. Brooklyn is currently 16-22 and lost six straight while Atlanta holds the best record in the East but aren’t occupied in a market as big as Brooklyn’s.  The team will probably be sold for around  $1 billion, based off the $2 billion deal that purchased the Los Angeles Clippers last spring.