With Mikhail Prokhorov moving the Nets to Brooklyn, he vowed to challenge the New York Knicks for supremacy locally and the rest of the NBA for a title.

Prokhorov spared no expense to validate his proclamations last offseason by collecting over $300 million in guaranteed contracts. However, despite Billy King’s roster overhaul and an in-season coaching change, the Nets were unable to advance out of the first round of the playoffs.

Money couldn’t buy chemistry or consistency; something Brooklyn’s veteran core feels will improve next season.

“We were learning on the fly this season,” said Brook Lopez. “I think we learned a lot and we have a lot of offseason to really get to work out together, hammer a lot of things out that we didn’t do well this season and come back next year, learn some more together, and get some more wins.” 

Lopez and his teammates will have more learning to do once training camp begins. King announced the Nets would not retain interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, which will have the Nets playing under their third coach in less than 12 months.

After obtaining the fourth seed and homecourt advantage in the first round against the Chicago Bulls, Lopez believes losing Game 7 at home will give Brooklyn extra motivation heading into the summer.

“It’s something for us to look at this offseason, a feeling to remember as we work out in the offseason,” said Lopez.

Despite spending much of the season developing chemistry, leading to subsequent consistency lapses, Deron Williams is encouraged by the glimpses Brooklyn showed of being a contender when clicking on all cylinders.

“We had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of turmoil and things to fight through, but we still had fun doing it,” said Williams. “I think this experience is going to make us tougher as a group. It’s a learning experience for all of us together, this being our first year together. We still have got a ways to go. We can be good and we’ve shown glimpses of being a really good team. I think the main thing is we were inconsistent as a group starting from the beginning of the season.”

Williams also noted that the Nets must become mentally tougher, but believes the current roster is capable.

“I think we have a great group of guys in the locker room,” said Williams. “We talked about the word inconsistency all season. I just think we need to find a way to be more consistent, especially mentally.”

After losing Game 3 by three points and losing Game 4 in triple overtime, Joe Johnson believes the Nets showed fight.

“We overcame a lot,” said Johnson. “Being down 3-1 in the series and being able to come back to send it to a Game 7 here on our home floor, we felt really good about it and we just came up short.”

With Brooklyn’s veteran core in tact, the Nets must hire a new coach capable of utilizing Williams’ strength in pick-and-roll sets, Johnson’s shooting ability, and Lopez’s expanding offensive repertoire on the block and in pick-and-pop sets.

While the Nets' core is secured contractually for the foreseeable future, the same cannot be said for the bench.

King’s main trade chips are Kris Humphries and MarShon Brooks. Humphries enters the final year of his contract at $12 million and Brooks’ potential remains under control for two seasons on his rookie deal.

C.J. Watson has a player option for next season, while Andray Blatche, Keith Bogans and Jerry Stackhouse are unrestricted free agents.

With Brooklyn over the salary cap threshold, King may lose two of his most productive bench players. Blatche, Brooklyn’s only double-figure scorer off the bench, is expected to be too costly for the Nets to re-sign.

Watson, who often played alongside Williams, may use his opt-out clause in his deal for a long-term deal elsewhere.

It is imperative for the Nets to sustain the chemistry they developed this season and translate it into consistency next season to fulfill Prokhorov’s goals.