Billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov and a Nets contingent will set the bar in the LeBron James free agent talks. The Nets will be the first team to meet with James in Akron, Ohio, league sources said, when the free agency period starts Thursday, July 1.
So the Knicks have the lure of New York. Chicago has cap space to sign two top tier free agents. The Brooklyn-bound Nets have all of that. And something else.
Prokhorov.
The Russian billionaire is expected to be accompanied by coach Avery Johnson and possibly James’ longtime friend, rapper Jay-Z, who owns a minority share of the team, plus Nets president Rod Thorn, who is planning to retire following the free agency period. Prokhorov will be the first to make his pitch with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Bulls, Heat, Clippers, and anyone else following. Sources insist the Nets have some elaborate recruiting pitches aimed at James, centering around Prokhorov’s “global” vision.
Despite Thorn’s plan to step aside, landing James is not just a Nets pipe dream. Prokhorov’s resources astound. If James opts out and wants to be a billionaire global icon, he listens hardest and longest to the Nets. The Knicks can throw him an elaborate dinner with French cuisine. Prokhorov probably could buy him France. Teams can offer the lure of their cities. Prokhorov, with worldwide business ventures, can offer the lure of the entire planet. He will recruit.
“He wants to win — and he’s made it very clear he wants to win — and we happen to have a lot of cap room,” Thorn said. “With his persona, with all the publicity and everything around his buying the team and his public pronouncements that he is going to do whatever it takes to have a top flight team, I think it’s got the attention of players and agents. People are at least curious.”
Prokhorov, who was in the Nets war room on draft night, changes the playing field. The Nets must be viewed as seriously as the Bulls — and remember James could win five titles in Chicago and still lag behind Michael Jordan. Yes, the Nets’ two-year sentence in Newark doesn’t help. But they will be in Brooklyn eventually.
There is one valid line of thought — James stays put for three years in Cleveland, keeping the home side happy. And then bolts to the Nets. Very popular opinion. But why wait? The Cavaliers roster is not getting better.
The Bulls have a legitimate stud in Derrick Rose but the Nets are assembling an attractive core on the court. At Thursday’s draft, they added two potentially significant pieces, Georgia Tech power forward Derrick Favors at No. 3 and, via trade, Texas tough-guy small forward Damion James, at 24. They have Brook Lopez, a Devin Harris that Johnson says will be the fear-instilling Devin Harris penetrator of old, Courtney Lee, Favors, Terrence Williams. Add James and Chris Bosh to that mix.
“With the 27th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, the New Jersey Nets select . . .”
They love Favors who they grabbed with an eye to the future.
“With Favors, his size, his athleticism his ability to be a really top defender and rebounder. . . . You’re not in a position to get a guy like, a guy with his body and athleticism, very often. With the potential this kid has, our feeling was it was the appropriate pick for us,” Thorn said.
James was a guy they rushed to get in a trade, giving up 27 and 31. They never worked him out “because we didn’t think he would be in the mix down where we were picking.” The Nets drafted with current needs in mind, not with heavy consideration for what free agency may bring.
The free agent period will bring uncertainty. Except for one area. The pitches to James will start with the Nets.