Report: Nets to sell minority stake to Alibaba exec Tsai; option for future majority

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has reportedly agreed to sell a 49 percent stake in the team to Joseph Tsai, executive vice chairman and co-founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.

The sale of the team is reportedly based on a $2.3-billion valuation; at that rate, 49 percent of the team would cost the mogul over $1.1 billion. Tsai would retain an option to purchase controlling ownership of the Nets in four years.

Tsai is Taiwanese by birth, but has significant ties to North America. He went to high school in New Jersey and studied at Yale. He also holds Canadian citizenship. As a minority owner, Tsai will not have a role in the Nets' basketball or business operations.

Prokhorov purchased 80 percent of the Nets for $200 million in 2010, relocating the team from New Jersey to Brooklyn two years later. He then purchased total ownership of the team and controlling ownership of the Barclays Center in late 2015 at a $1.7-billion valuation.

It was reported earlier this year that Prokhorov hoped to sell the team in a two-part plan after failing to auction off a minority stake. With the Houston Rockets selling to restaurateur Tilman Fertitta for a record $2.2 billion earlier this year, the timing has never been better for NBA owners to cash out of their investments.

Despite the Nets' significantly higher valuation from just two years ago, Tsai's ownership stake will reportedly not include ownership of the Barclays Center, which currently houses both the Nets and the NHL's New York Islanders.

Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, the Nets have amassed a regular season record of 201-342 - a .370 winning percentage - while racking up high luxury tax bills with teams built around past-their-prime veterans. They made the playoffs three times from 2013-15, making the second round in 2014.