A Skeptical Look at Mr. Prokhorov: "He's Just Very NBA Dumb"

Dave D'Alessandro is not convinced Mikhail Prokhorov is the Nets' savior.  He claims first off that Prokhorov knows less hoops than Bruce Ratner did when he bought the Nets.  Considering that one of Bruce's best buddies told us that before he bought the Nets Bruce had been to one NBA game and thought they were divided into halves, not quarters, we'll take issue with that.

That aside, Dave D thinks there were some warning signs this week: the handling of Kiki Vandeweghe's firing...which is what it was; the supreme confidence that Andrei Vatutin can learn the NBA game fast enough and well enough to take over the team in two years; the possibility of friction between the old American guard and the new Russian one; the lack of specifics on the rebuilding plan; and the boss' inability to get the names of his best players right.  It's not "Terry Williams" or "the Yi player".

D'Alessandro leaves himself some outs by noting Prokhorov's charm, his like-ability, his intelligence and of course, the size of his wallet. But for the long-time Nets beat writer, the real bottom line is this: "He's just very NBA dumb."

• Deconstructing Mikhail Prokhorov - Dave D'Alessandro - Star-Ledger