The Nets are believed to have invited guard Will Blalock to training camp.

Blalock, who starred at Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts, had a 14-game stint with the Pistons during the 2006-07 season.

Nets guard Rafer Alston expects to begin the season with either the Knicks or Heat, according to a source.

"New York and Miami are the top two teams on Rafer's list," the source told ESPN 1050 in New York. "He can't play in a contract year in New Jersey behind Devin Harris and Keyon Dooling."

Alston was part of the package that the Magic sent to the Nets for Vince Carter back in June.

Because of his expiring contract, Alston is a valuable trade chip.

"(Mike) D'Antoni might be the only coach in the league that would let Rafer be Rafer," the source added.

Nets owner Bruce Ratner says that the sale of the team is the final piece to building an $800 million arena and moving to Brooklyn.

Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov is primed to purchase the franchise.

Ratner said in an interview with The Associated Press that the venture still requires that he sell almost $600 million in tax-exempt bonds by the end of the year.

Mikhail Prokhorov purchased a significant ownership stake in the New Jersey Nets this week and he has the money and wherewithal to turn the franchise's prospects around.

Some believe he might become a bigger recruiting tool for LeBron James to come to the Nets than Jay-Z.

?He has the personality, the charisma and the wherewithal to reach any of the league?s young stars on a level that I don?t think other owners can,? David Vanterpool said by phone Wednesday. ?He likes to go out. He likes to fly to Europe and go to the most exclusive resorts. He?s going to connect with these guys.

?I would think right now that a lot of people in the NBA would be scared to death of this guy, if for nothing else the unknown of what he might do here.?

One NBA executive with strong Eastern European ties says to expect Russian and Lithuanian basketball legends Sarunas Marciulionis and Arvydas Sabonis to be included in a dramatically changed Nets organization. With CSKA, Prokhorov tried to hire Toronto Raptors assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini but was spurned. He could revisit the Italian executive for the Nets? top job.

Nets coach Lawrence Frank knows that the team lacks a multi-time All-Star, but believes their depth will make up for the lack of a superstar.

"Listen, our strength is going to be in numbers. Our brand is, 'None of us is as strong as all of us,' meaning that we don't have the first-ballot Hall of Famer," Frank told the Sporting News.

"We don't have multiple All-Stars right now. But we have several good players. I think our depth chart at many positions instead of being vertical is going to be horizontal. There are going to be some guys starting at positions and the guys behind them are going to be just as good."

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to invest $200 million in exchange for an 80% ownership interest in the Nets.  Prokhorov would replace Bruce Ratner as majority owner of the team.

As part of the deal, Prokhorov would also own 45% of the Barclays Center development project and have an option to purchase up to 20% of Atlantic Yards Development Co.

Nets president Rod Thorn doesn't think his team will be as bad as many are predicting this season.

"We don't look that strong on paper, but we will be better than a lot of the pundits think, and we'll be very competitive," Thorn told the New York Post.

He added that the team's salary cap flexibility will put them in a very positive situation heading into next summer.

"We definitely want to be a team that can compete for the championship. We certainly would like to be in a position where it's not even a possibility we won't be in the playoffs," he added.

"We will be in position at the end of the year to be in the free-agent market to be competitive for virtually anybody."

Russia's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, has confirmed his interest in buying the New Jersey Nets.

Prokhorov boasted on his blog that if his move is successful, it would be the first time an NBA team would come under foreign control.

His proposals, which were sent to team shareholders this weekend, would see his Onexim group provide a loan to build a substantial part of the team's Brooklyn arena, according to a post on his site.

Sources close to the billionaire have previously estimated the overall value of any deal at $700 million.

"For our Onexim group the realization of this very lucrative business project, whose participation was made possible by the world crisis [never in history have foreigners owned an NBA club], is another interesting sports development," Prokhorov wrote.

The Warriors have delayed the delivery of a previously traded first-round pick one year to 2012, according to NBA sources.

The pick, which is lottery-protected, had been sent to New Jersey in July 2008 in a trade for guard Marcus Williams, who signed with Memphis as a free agent this offseason.

The Nets will receive two future second-round picks from the Warriors for agreeing to delay receiving the first-round selection.

The original pick was lottery-protected in 2011, and the 2012 selection is now believed to have less protection.

The Russian billionaire who is believed to be close to funding the Nets' move to Brooklyn has a checked past.

Mikhail Prokhorov, who was recently named the 40th wealthiest man in the world by Forbes, was arrested in 2007 on suspicion he was involved in an upscale prostitution ring.

Prokhorov is reportedly close to issuing a $700 million bond through his investment firm, Onexim, that would help owner Bruce Ratner build the long-awaited Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.

The Russian helped finance CSKA Moscow at one point.