Report: Nets haven't been sold because team and arena can't be bought separately

Good luck trying to piece together the puzzle that is billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov's plan for the Brooklyn Nets.

Here's a quick run-down of the eventful season Prokhorov spent trying to unload his team:

• When the Los Angeles Clippers sold for a record $2 billion last summer, Prokhorov's ears were said to have suddenly perked up. He quickly denied the reports he was listening to offers for the Nets.
• Shortly after training camp got under way, Prokhorov was again reported to be looking to cash out his 80 percent stake in the team. He was rumored to be negotiating a combination of assets with Guggenheim Partners, who own the Los Angeles Dodgers. He came out of the woodwork a month later to announce that he planned to own the Nets for a long time.
• Midway through the season, Prokhorov and minority owner Bruce Ratner hired investment bank Evercore Partners to explore a sale of the team. Two months later, that agreement was reportedly terminated.
• In March, a report claimed it was Evercore, not Prokhorov, who had ended the agreement, citing a lack of outside interest in the team. That lack of interest was said to be the result of Prokhorov's unwillingness to sell a majority stake. A later report asserted it was the result of Prokhorov's extremely optimistic $3-billion valuation of his franchise.
• Finally, near the end of the regular season, Prokhorov attended a Nets game for the first time since their home opener. He held a media session before the game and announced he had no intention to sell the Nets, and was committed to continuing to outspend the rest of the NBA.

Whew. The latest report has it that the trouble with the attempted sale relates to a hitch in Prokhorov's buyer's agreement, which prevents him from selling the team and its arena separately.

From ESPN's Marc Stein:

There are also persistent rumbles in league circles that the real reason the Nets aren't being actively shopped to potential bidders is the structure of the deal Prokhorov struck to buy the team mandates he sell Barclays Center in conjunction with his basketball team.

Word is the entities can't be sold separately, which is said to have chilled the market due to the complexities involved in such a transaction and the significant price tag it would carry.

Barclays Center was completed in 2012, two years after Prokhorov bought the Nets for an estimated $200 million. Ratner, who owns 20 percent of the team, is the majority stakeholder in the arena (55 percent), with Prokhorov owning the rest.