Julian Garcia of the New York Daily News reports:

Rod Thorn’s decision to retire as president of the Nets was likely hastened by the presence of what he perceived to be Russian spies inside the team’s offices, sources say.

According to sources close to the team, Thorn had quickly grown tired of having to answer to associates of new Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who took control of the Nets in early May. After months of dealing with Prokhorov’s underlings looking over his shoulder, Thorn decided to walk away.

He will step down on July 15, one week after the free agent signing period begins.

Before news of his impending retirement broke Friday night, Thorn told the Daily News that he had no issues with either Prokhorov or his field generals.

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:

What has John Kuester — and the rest of the Pistons’ front office — guardedly optimistic is that Greg Monroe isn’t your typical big guy.

Everyone likes the guys who attack every rebound and score in the post. By averaging 16.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game last season as a sophomore at Georgetown, Monroe has shown he can do that.

But Kuester, who uses his big men to make decisions on the offensive end, is already thinking of expanding his system to accommodate the talents of Monroe, a multi-skilled big guy who averaged 3.8 assists per game last season.

“When you can throw the ball in the post to a guy that’s a prolific passer, that gives your team a completely different look,” Dumars said. “When you can throw the ball down on the post and then have people start moving, it gives the defense a completely different look, and that’s why post players that can pass are so effective.

“You can run your offense through a guy like that a lot of times. Guys that have been great passers like that have been guys that have helped their teams tremendously.”