From Russia with Love...

The new collective bargaining agreement for the NBA was supposed to help to produce parity between teams by adding a hefty luxury tax penalty to those teams who exceed the agreed upon salary cap. However, the larger the market for a NBA team the more likely the owner will be willing to pay this additional luxury tax in order to keep or build a championship caliber team. However, there is a limit even to the billionaire owners and this tax does get more excessive the further you go beyond the salary cap, in fact, this was the main reasoning behind the decision for the Miami Heat to release fan favorite Mike Miller. Had the Heat chosen to keep Miller, they would have had to pay the league an additional 30 million in luxury tax (that's 30 million on top of their current salary).

Yet, what happens in the case where you have a owner who has a strong enough passion as a fan along with deeper pockets than most if not all other NBA owners? Enter in Mikhail Prokhorov, the Russian billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets. In 2011, Mikhail Prokhorov was the third richest person in Russia with $18 billion and the 39th richest person in the world. Coming into 2013, the Brooklyn Nets' lead story isn't just in the fact they signed future Hall of Famer and rookie head coach Jason Kidd, but rather in the fact they signed Keven Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. These multiple All Stars will play alongside the already formidable duo of Brook Lopez & Deron Williams. The projected payroll for this team loaded of current and relevant All Stars will be in excess of 100 million, meaning Prokhorov will have to pay an additional 80 million in luxury tax, or a total yearly payroll of 180 million. While other teams are looking to cut down their luxury tax obligations, Prokhorov looks to keep adding to it.

"I'm saying Deron Williams for MVP, with the pieces we have here ... There's something in the air here that says the Brooklyn Nets will be the NBA champions next year," Terry said. Jason Terry may be right.

Mikhail Prokhorov says he wasn't about to wait in line for a championship, and that he doesn't mind spending $100 million in salaries and another $80 million in luxury taxes next season if that’s what it takes. “They’re still counting money in back office,” Prokhorov said.

Indeed "still counting money" and when you can simply out spend your competitors who's to stop the Nets next year other than possibly team chemistry? Buying a super team doesn't always necessitate a champion. For example, look at what happened to the Lakers last year. We'll see if this a "From Russia with Love" success story for Brooklyn or the Los Angeles' version of a "Nightmare on Elm Street" horror story of last year. Only time will tell.