Dmitry Razumov, who pushed Jason Kidd as Nets head coach, named Chairman

Dmitry Razumov, Mikhail Prokhorov's No. 2 who's worked closely with Billy King on basketball operations, has quietly been named chairman of the Nets board of directors, replacing another executive from Prokhorov's ONEXIM corporation.  The change is not expected to alter, in any noticeable way, the manner in which the team is run, but is a reflection of Razumov's significance in the organization.

There was no announcement of the move, but Razumov suddenly showed up Friday on the team's front office directory as chairman, the team's second in command. The team's top three executives --Prokhorov, Razumov and Irina Pavlova-- are now all Russians. Charlier, who long worked for ONEXIM in Moscow, is French.

Razumov has okayed most if not all, of  the team's basketball moves since Prokhorov took over the team in 2010, including the trades for Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.  He sits in the Nets Draft War Room every June as well. King has described him as his chief point of contact with Prokhorov on basketball decisions.

His biggest success was his  role in pushing both Prokhorov and King to hire Jason Kidd. Razumov had resisted other candidates, wanting a head coach he believed could be the face of the franchise, a long-term hire. He represented Prokhorov at the Kidd jersey retirement ceremony last October.

In 2011, Razumov described his role this way to NetsDaily this way , "I do speak to Billy on a regular basis about basketball", explaining that he has focused on "Nets issues" within the franchise.  He joked then that the relationship has had only one major drawback. "The main adjustment has been dealing with the time difference between Moscow and New York!"

As ONEXIM CEO, Razumov has played a role in Prokhorov's investments in gold, aluminum, insurance, investment banking, and other Russian and international ventures.

Charlier, who had been chairman since 2010, will reportedly remain on the board. Charlier was critical in getting the Barclays Center financing structure in place as well as the Nets financing. He served as well on the Barclays board.