‘Business as usual’
After The Post reported Mikhail Prokhorov is talking with multiple suitors to sell the Nets, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks acknowledged he speaks regularly with the Russian billionaire about the situation. But until a sale goes down — and sources say the bids are sizeable — Marks said it’ll be business as usual.
“We cross that bridge when the time comes,” Marks told The Post. “For the time being its business as usual, and until I’m informed otherwise I’m going about the vision we started out trying to get to, and the necessary strategic steps along the way.
“That’s the way we’re going to conduct business here from the coaching staff, the front office and so forth. Mikhail and I have open conversations about this, so there’s no sort of surprises and so forth.”
Prospective bidders are believed to include a Texas-based group that lost the Rockets auction last month, two New York financial heavyweights and another group involved with former Knicks and Garden president Dave Checketts. And with the Rockets having sold for an NBArecord $2.2 billion, Prokhorov is believed to be demanding a similar price. In 2010, Prokhorov spent roughly $220 million to purchase 80 percent of the franchise and 45 percent of the Barclays Center.
“I think the number is going to surprise some people,” a source close to the talks told The Post over the weekend. “The bids are huge.”
Three different sources told The Post the Russian billionaire would prefer to sell just 49 percent of his team — with the op- tion of buying the rest in three years — and has so far resisted bids to immediately take over a controlling stake.
While the Nets could break even this season — which tips off Wednesday in Indiana — a source said they lost $50 million on a cash flow basis last season, including losing $10 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. But so far Prokhorov hasn’t skimped.
Prokhorov green-lighted a four-year, $106 million maximum free-agent offer sheet to restricted free agent Otto Porter Jr., and hasn’t balked at having one of the league’s biggest front offices.
“It’s very reassuring,” Marks said. “But it’s not a surprise, because when I signed on we were all on the same page. This wasn’t a ‘Yes, I’d love to be the GM of the Nets, [but] I’m going to be hamstrung and not able to bring in X, Y and Z.’ Mikhail and Dmitry [Razumov, Onexim CEO] have been terrific in communication we’ve had. We’re all on the same page.
“My biggest thing I don’t want them to be surprised with anything we do. I hope I give them plenty of time to digest, whether it’s a trade, whether it’s a hire, whether it’s something completely random we want to do like the practice in the park. They’ve shown their commitment not only to the Nets but to the borough.”
Marks’ predecessor, Billy King, spoke often with Razumov, the chairman of the Board of Advisory Directors for both the Nets and Barclays Center. But Marks has a very open line of communication with Prokhorov, something that the Russian billionaire is said to appreciate.