When Mikhail Prokhorov pulled the Nets out of Carmelo Anthony chase, there were some around the NBA who said he was just acting and trying to come off as a bad ass at the negotiating table. He was trying to establish his presence and persona with a dramatic move.
My thought: If you made $15 billion (give or take) in this Russian economy, you are a bad ass.
That said, I still expected the two sides to get back together. Both get the best outcome out of working together and in the end that business sense usually trumps everything else.
So far, no go according to the New York Post. With 10 days to go the two sides are not talking.Despite owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s deal derailment, many around the NBA consider the Nets very alive in the mix because of their boatload of assets. Though some within the Nets organization fully expect the Nuggets to call back to re-engage talks, the calls have not happened yet, multiple sources contend.
They’ll wait. They plowed through four-plus months of this stuff, what’s 10 more days?
Because these teams spent so long talking about a deal the parameters of it are basically already set up (‘Melo for Derrick Favors, Troy Murphy and a couple picks). The only difference is that before the Nuggets were trying to use the Nets as leverage, and trying to push them into taking on more bad contracts from Denver (or finding a team that would). Now if they do re-engage talks things could move quickly — except that the Nets would have negotiating leverage to get a deal they like. Because the Nuggets have seen their other options. And because the guy willing to walk away from the table is always the guy with the most negotiating leverage.
And Prokhorov knew that. Because he’s a bad ass.