Prokhorov has changed for the better
In his early swashbuckling days as Nets owner, Mikhail Prokhorov ran through coaches like cell phone data. It didn’t matter that Avery Johnson was the reigning Coach of the Month — Fired.
PJ Carlesimo went 35-19 — Fired.
Lionel Hollins and Tony Brown were the fourth and fifth coaches in four years — Fired and Fired.
As it turned out, none of those coaches jettisoned from Brooklyn landed another NBA head coaching job except for Jason Kidd, who orchestrated his own relocation to Milwaukee. So it’s no glaring pockmark on Prokhorov’s resume. Still, the Russian’s lack of patience with coaches led many to believe he didn’t have the stomach for a rebuild.
In that context, the news this week that Kenny Atkinson will receive a contract extension is somewhat remarkable. With almost three seasons on the job, Atkinson’s record was ugly at 87-156 after Wednesday’s loss to the Raptors. But he’s the first Nets coach to get an extension since Lawrence Frank in 2007.
It’s a rare occurrence in New York basketball.
“From Day 1 to right now, from the sevengame losing streak (this season) to the 20-win season (in 2016-17), I think there was an understanding of what this project is about and the necessary building blocks we put in place,” Atkinson said. “I think the patience of ownership has been outstanding.”
Many things have changed with the Nets since their failed attempt with Kevin Garnett’s corpse.
First, Prokhorov’s ‘winat-all-costs-while-obliterating-the-Knicks’ persona proved to be an act. His goal was to pump up the brand and value of the franchise, which would’ve happened anyway, so the attempted bum-rush to relevancy was foolhardy. But he’s a businessman, first and foremost, and became a fullblown absentee owner four seasons ago.
Second, Prokhorov unloaded nearly half his ownership stake and has one foot out the door. The new owner Joe Tsai – who has an option to take over controlling interest by 2021 – has kept a low profile and seems on board with a practical approach.
Third, Atkinson proved to be a damn good coach.
“I was happy (Atkinson and the staff got extensions),” guard Spencer Din
widdie said. “Obviously it’s no secret it’s the first place I’ve played at in my career, like really, truly played, and if they didn’t have that confidence in me, I’m not sitting in this chair right now. So I owe a lot of that to them and to see them be rewarded by management and ownership and all that stuff for everything that they’ve done – for getting a team that wasn’t supposed to be in the playoffs to get us in at least in that hunt. It speaks volumes and I’m glad they got rewarded.”
Both Dinwiddie and forward Jared Dudley suggested Atkinson’s contractual stability will be attractive to free agents. The Nets should have enough money for at least one max free agent, and could get to two by unloading Allen Crabbe and renouncing D’Angelo Russell’s rights.
Kyrie Irving is expected to consider Brooklyn.
“When it comes to bigtime free agents, yeah (Atkinson’s stability will help). When it comes to recruiting people,” Dudley said. “Stability in any job, in any organization – I don’t care if it’s a hospital or if it’s basketball, NFL, you obviously want everything to be in line. So you have ownership, GM, coach, they have all that here.”
GM Sean Marks also received an extension, which is great for stability but he’s been less impressive than Atkinson. Marks has proven adept at trading, drafting and hiring coaches, but in the open market he made offers of $36 million to Jeremy Lin, $75 million to Allen Crabbe, $50 million to Tyler Johnson and $104 million to Otto Porter. Luckily for Marks, only Lin signed because the others were matched in restricted free agency.
Like Atkinson, Marks also had the luxury of a patient owner.