Thorn working on new deal with Nets
Within hours of the NBA’s draft lottery on Tuesday, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was meeting with New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn to try and complete a contract agreement with the franchise’s top executive, league sources said.
Sources say Thorn is expected to come to terms on a new two-year deal. Thorn’s current contract expires this summer. Prokhorov’s ownership group had been canvassing officials with several NBA teams to gauge comparable salaries for team executives. Prokhorov’s team was looking at the pay cut the Sacramento Kings gave general manager Geoff Petrie in his new contract, sources say.
Thorn has been conducting the preliminaries of a coaching search, and that will gather momentum quickly once his own situation is resolved.
Thorn has been the Nets’ top executive since 2000. He transformed the franchise from one of the league’s worst into a two-time NBA Finalist and a consistent playoff participant. The organization bottomed out this season at the back end of previous owner Bruce Ratner’s cost cutting, but could turn around fast with young center Brook Lopez(notes), a possible top draft pick and enough salary-cap room to sign a top-tier free agent.
