The Brooklyn Nets may be undergoing major changes this summer. According to a report from Euro Hoops, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov already has already chosen a potential replacement for current general manager Billy King. Prokhorov reportedly wants CSKA Moscow team president Andrey Vatutin to take the place of King, whose contract expires this year.
The Nets were reportedly interested in bringing Vatutin in for the same position in 2010, before King was hired, but he turned them down. The current team president has a history with Prokhorov as the latter used to own CSKA Moscow.
King has taken a lot of mostly well-deserved criticism for his work as the Nets’ GM. Brooklyn leveraged its future by trading tons of draft picks in order to build what they thought would be a contender. However, that plan did not work and now the team is suffering as a result. A lot of that blame, however, should have been placed on an over-eager ownership group (namely Prokhorov) that wanted a hastily-built title contender to play in a new arena.
Nevertheless, there is a high chance that the Net do not re-up King’s contract this offseason and attempt to start over with a new front office. Whether Vatutin is the right person for that job remains to be seen. He has been a member of CSKA Moscow since 2002 and the CEO since 2007. In that time, the team has won a multitude of titles both in Russia and in Europe. Perhaps, he is the person the Nets need to finally round the corner as a competent rebuilding organization.
