Nets' Prokhorov in dialogue with Williams

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov met with Deron Williams to discuss his future with the team, but the Russian tycoon refused to say whether the All-Star guard gave any indication of staying with the club after this season.

Prokhorov said the two met Monday, adding that both have a tremendous desire to win, which is something the Nets did not do enough this season. They are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

In a wide-ranging interview yesterday after he toured his nearly completed Barclays Center in Brooklyn, a hard hat-wearing Prokhorov said the Nets are like his building, a work under construction. He said the arena will be one of the best in the world, and his team will win an NBA title when complete.

Prokhorov said the arena could be used for hockey but there are no immediate plans to lure the Islanders.

The most immediate issue for Prokhorov's team is Williams, who is the Nets' lone star. He has the right to opt out of his contract after this season and he has said he will test the free-agent market.

Though he has not said he will leave the team, Williams wants to play for a winner, and the Nets have to make strides in that direction. "I think he wants to win, and he wants to be part of a great franchise," Prokhorov said. "We have the same view on this."

The Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban, whom Prokhorov refers to as a friend, are said to be interested in Williams if he became a free agent. "Let the best man win," Prokhorov said of being challenged by Cuban. "If he wins, I will crush him in the kickboxing throwdown."

The comment drew a huge laugh from the roughly 100 members of the media who attended the news conference in the now dust-covered atrium of the new arena.

Prokhorov, 46, asked Nets fans for patience, saying he was trying to find the right pieces to construct a champion, not just a playoff team. He said the Nets would have made the playoffs in this lockout-shortened season had it not been for injuries, the most significant being a broken foot that limited center Brook Lopez to five games.

Prokhorov did not see his team play in person until this past weekend, staying in Russia to run for president. He added he watches the team play 80 percent of its games and he is involved in all the day-to-day decisions.

The 18,000-seat arena, which was built primarily for basketball, is scheduled to open Sept. 28 with a concert by Jay-Z, a minority owner. The arena expects to have 220 events in its first year, with concerts seating about 19,000.