Harvey Araton reports in the Times Monday that Mikhail Prokhorov and Dmitry Razumov have promised him that they will be "more involved" in the management of the franchise "throughout the transition."

In a long piece on how Prokhorov's absentee ownership has hurt what should be an "ascendant" franchise, Araton quotes an email exchange he had with the commissioner.

In an email, Silver wrote that Prokhorov "and his partner, Dmitry Razumov, have told me that they intend to be more involved in the management of the franchise throughout the transition and moving forward."

Araton also quotes Silver as suggesting great distances or hands-off style aren't necessarily a negative.

"Many successful franchises have owners who step back and largely delegate the day-to-day management of their teams; others are obviously more hands-on — and which is which isn’t necessarily dictated by the physical location of the owner."

The email exchange also suggests that Nets management informed the league of the firing of Lionel Hollins and "reassignment" of Billy King. It also may suggest that Silver, knowing the value of a New York team owned by an international player, may have had growing concerns about the Nets' downward spiral.