As if the on-again, off-again, trade talk with Carmelo Anthony hasn’t been excruciating enough for everyone involved with the Nets from the players down to the fans, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski has apparently stopped using his regular space on the Internet to mock LeBron James and has moved on to eviscerating Mikhail Prokhorov and the Nets. Yesterday’s piece was a scorcher, and for anyone with even holds the least bit of doubt in the Russian as a competent owner, you’ll probably eat this up:
If the Nets truly need to sell Carmelo Anthony(notes) on accepting the trade and signing a contract extension, they’re a bigger lost cause than they’ve ever been. The Nets can’t let Prokhorov and Jay-Z get on a jet and go sell that now because this process has already cost them too much credibility – and because billionaires aren’t supposed to beg. Make no mistake: The manufactured aura of this ownership dream team will be obliterated with a ’Melo rejection.
And
When everyone believed Prokhorov would hit the NBA like a of force nature, he’s hit it like Herb Kohl.
I’ve been saying for weeks now that this has to end, that this whole charade can’t continue until the trade deadline, but it sounds like I’m wrong. This will continue. It will continue because the Nets are determined, nay, desperate, and with every day that passes, the Knicks get closer to moving pieces that will complete a deal, and give Anthony want he’s wanted all along.
