Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov is "in talks with multiple suitors" to sell the team -- and he is "pushing for an eye-popping price tag," according to sources cited by Kosman & Lewis of the N.Y. POST. Prokhorov is "demanding a valuation" of around $2B for the Nets -- near the record-setting $2.2B price that the Rockets sold for earlier this month. Prospective bidders have been "pushing Prokorov to sell control of the team immediately, versus his recent pitch to sell an initial minority stake along with the right to take control in three years." A deal -- which would not include Barclays Center -- "could be announced in the coming days or weeks." Prospective bidders are "said to include" at least two N.Y. financial titans, as well as a "Texas-based buyer group that lost" a bid on the Rockets. Sources said that former Knicks and MSG President Dave Checketts leads "another bidding group" connected to the Nets. Checketts is "friendly" with Alibaba Exec Vice Chair Joe Tsai, who has also "expressed interest in buying the Nets." Recently, Checketts and Tsai were "in talks about acquiring an NBA team," but the "current status of those discussions isn’t clear." Sources said that Prokhorov has been offering a 49% stake with the "right to purchase the rest of the team in three years at a valuation that will increase at a set percentage per year for the three years." Suitors are "now pushing further to buy full control right away" (N.Y. POST, 10/16).
