Nets Owner Being Accused of Cutting Side Deals

As an NBA owner, Mikhail Prokhorov has proven that he's willing to spend every dime he has in order to make his team a championship contender. Whether or not this method will work is anyone's guess but we can all agree he's added a TON of talent (washed up or not) to his Nets team.

Now according to Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports, several NBA owners and GMs are accusing Prokhorov of foul play. They're saying that they think he is doing some kind of secret deals, especially after signing Andrei Kirilenko for just over 3 million when he was offered 10 million by the Timberwolves.

Now I did think it was a bit odd that when the trade with Jason Terry, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce came through that no one ever mentioned how much money the players would be making or what their new contracts would be like, as is typical for any type of blockbuster deal.

Prokhorov has also been linked several times to the Russian mafia throughout his career and has been pretty candid about his use of bribery in past business dealings.

Hmmm...what are your thoughts?

Victor Cruz: Elite WR??

Ok, so apparently since Victor Cruz signed that 6 year 46 (if you round up) million dollar deal the other day, NFL fans have been debating whether or not Cruz was worth the money.

Cruz may have not been the Giants number 1 receiver, but he is a good slot receiver nonetheless. What do you think? Would you have given Cruz that amount of money?

Drink, Drive, and...Go to Work Like Nothing Happened?

I'm pretty sure we all remember last summer when Jason Kidd drank himself silly, got carried out of the club and then ran his car into a telephone pole in the Hamptons. According to Kidd's attorney, Edward Burke Jr., Kidd does not have to appear in court this week due to the fact that he is at work in Orlando coaching the Nets summer league team. Now maybe I'm just not that well versed in the criminal courts system, but I wasn't aware that you could get out of a court date because you were at work. They wont even let you out of jury duty for that.

Perhaps I'm wrong but if say Allen Iverson had done this same thing don't you think that the league would've immediately suspended him? What if it were JR Smith, Birdman or heaven forbid Metta World Peace?!

Listen, I love Jason Kidd as a player. As a coach...well let's just see how long it takes Deron Williams to get him fired (be real we all know it's gonna happen sooner or later). Fair is fair though; if you can get suspended for saying that a referee missed a call why can't you for driving drunk?

What's going on with the Mavericks?

Is it just me or are players avoiding the Mavericks organization like it's their baby momma? The Mavs have tried to acquire everyone from Dwight Howard, Monta Ellis, Rajon Rondo, Andrew Bynum and even Jermaine O'Neal yet none of these players seem to think that Dallas would be a good fit.

Is it the money? Dallas is under the salary cap and actually has money to spend on a big contract. Could it people that players are kinda pissed at Mark Cuban for breaking up the championship team and find that he isn't a loyal owner? Eh who knows...What I do know is that it doesn't look like anyone will be coming to the Mavericks anytime soon...but hey there's always a chance they could go fro Lebron next year right?!

Chris Kaman to the Lakers? Is that the best you've got?

Apparently Chris Kaman is getting ready to sign a 1 year deal with the Lakers that's worth roughly 3 million dollars. Anyone out here think that Kaman will be a help to the Lakeshow?

The Mark Cuban Effect

So now that Dwight Howard is headed to Houston, are any of you Cubanites still thinking that he made a good decision in breaking up the championship team? Cuban's whole purpose in breaking up the team was to bring in new, young talent. Last year he didn't bring in ANYONE in a failed attempt to sign Dwight Howard or Chris Paul this year. Since both of those were an epic failure...is anyone still on the Cuban bandwagon? Or has everyone jumped ship yet? 

Kevin Garnett...pot meet kettle

Dear Kevin,

We (meaning NBA fans) all remember when Ray Allen came back for his first game in Boston in a Miami Heat uniform. He approached you to say hello and you ignored him, kind of the way boys ignore girls on the playground that they have a crush on.

Now that you've left the Celtics, can Boston fans do that to you? Pretend you don't exist and hopefully you'll walk away and we can all act like you were never there in the first place?

Let's be real you're 37 and averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds a game. You're going to a team with a rookie coach, an average point guard in Deron Williams and a bunch of C list players that have never made it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs.

I get it. You want another ring. You want to continue to make more money because lets face it, you have bills and kids to pay for. But this is not the way to do it. Did you not watch the Knicks or the Lakers this year? Old men chasing rings doesn't work anymore. Maybe it's because the younger generation is that good, or maybe there are still so many old men still hanging on to the "good ole days."

Either way, if your team makes it out of the first round of the playoffs no one will be surprised. If you make it out the first round without the help of the officials or Adam Silver everyone will be surprised.

Signed,

NBA Fans