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NETS SIGN TAUREAN PRINCE TO TWO-YEAR, $29 MILLION EXTENSION

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Toronto Raptors v Brooklyn Nets Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

The Nets are still spending money. Mikhail Prokhorov may be done, but Joe Tsai on Monday proved that he too is willing pay out big bucks.

Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Nets have agreed to a two-year, $29 million extension for Taurean Prince who they acquired in June in what was a salary dump to free up cap space, but now looks a lot different.

Later, Bobby Marks said the $29 million is the max Prince can receive, that there are $3.7 million in bonuses.

The Nets who had to extend Prince by 6 p.m. Monday —or he’d become a restricted free agent next June— tweeted out the news shortly after Woj broke it.

“I want to be here as long as I can. And whatever happens, happens, but I’m just happy to play good basketball,” Prince told The Post over the weekend. “One hundred percent, yeah. For sure. This is the best organization I’ve been in.

“Top to bottom, from Sean [Marks] all the way to the cooks to the janitors, [everybody’s] involved in welcoming as far as family. I can 100 percent be myself here. That goes a long way as far as players, because it makes your job a lot easier on the court.”

After the signing, Prince tweeted out his appreciation...

The signing is the first big deal since Tsai took over the team a month ago, buying the Nets and Barclays Center for $3.5 billion, a record for a North American sports franchise.

Prince will now be under contract for three years: $3.48 million this year, then $29 million in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

His deal means eight players on deals that extend through 2021-22: Prince, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, Rodions Kurucs and Nicolas Claxton. The Nets have now committed a half billion in since June 30. Total cost: nearly $450 million.

The Nets will likely have to make a decision next summer on Joe Harris, who will be a free agent on July 1. Brooklyn holds his Bird Rights meaning they exceed the salary cap to retain him. The Nets will also have to make a decision on extending Jarrett Allen a year from now.

The downside of all the moves is that the Nets —in the person of Joe Tsai — will have to pay some luxury tax next year for the first time since 2015.

Albert Namad, the Miami-based cap enthusiast, tweeted that while the Nets may have to pay out some luxury tax, they are ideally positioned for a title run ... and that the Allen Crabbe salary dump that brought in Prince now looks like a steal.

Ironically, the Hawks wanted to get rid of Prince because they didn’t want to extend him.

This is of course the second extension of the summer for the Nets, having agreed to pay out $52.5 million to LeVert over three years. That deal went down on August 25.

Not everyone thought the deal was great. John Hollinger, now with The Athletic after seven years with the Grizzlies, said he didn’t see the deal coming.

This is the one deal that surprised me the most, because a) Prince had a poor season in 2018-19, and b) he plays the same position as Kevin Durant. It also likely makes the Nets a tax team in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, limiting them to the taxpayer midlevel exception.

Hollinger said, however, that the Caris LeVert deal earlier this summer, calling it “a pretty sweet deal compared to the ones that came down the pike later.”

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The Nets did miss out on Alfonzo McKinnie who they had hoped to sign if the Warriors small forward cleared waivers after being cut Saturday. The Cavaliers, second in the waiver order, claimed McKinnie on Monday.

Brooklyn still have one two-way deal left. They have 16 players under contract, one short of the maximum. They have also yet to announce officially that Jaylen Hands, the 56th pick in the 2019 Draft, will join the Long Island Nets. Brian Lewis has reported that’s the plan.

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