Report: Nets owner cuts ties with bank hired to sell team

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is no longer pursuing a sale of the team with the investment bank he hired in January, ESPN's Darren Rovell reports. 

Prokhorov has terminated his agreement with Evercore Partners, Rovell reports, after it became clear a sale was unlikely.

Prokhorov reportedly hired Evercore in January but the team denied those reports. His interest in a sale was reportedly influenced by the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers last spring and the economic downturn in Prokhorov's native Russia.

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[daily_cut.NBA]Prokhorov bought the Nets in 2010 for $223 million. He owns 80 percent of the team and 45 percent of its arena, Barclays Center. A Grantland report from last year said the Nets' basketball operations department lost $144 million last season, losses that Prokhorov has minimized. 

The value of Russia's currency, the ruble, has plummeted in recent months, largely because of decreasing oil prices. 

Forbes estimated in January 2014 that the team was worth $780 million, the fifth-highest value in the NBA. Valuations expert Peter Schwartz told Bloomberg Brooklyn is worth about $1.3 billion.

- Dan Gartland