Andrei Kirilenko Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Kirilenko Family Matter Clouds Trade Talk

December 1st, 2014 at 12:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

12:13pm: The situation will probably keep him from traveling with the team for road games, Kirilenko told reporters, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, who notes that the family issue involves Kirilenko’s wife (Twitter link). Kirilenko also said that the matter won’t be resolved until early February, Vasquez notes (via Twitter).

11:48am: Nets GM Billy King confirmed today that Kirilenko has returned to practice, tweets Andy Vasquez of The Record.

MONDAY, 8:15am: Kirilenko is set to rejoin the Nets for practice today, a source tells Robert Windrem of NetsDaily (Twitter link). The forward has been absent from the team for more than a week, ostensibly to tend to the family issue.

SATURDAY, 1:56pm: Several contending teams that have inquired about trading for Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko were given the impression that Kirilenko’s desire to attend to an unspecified family matter in New York would make any deal impractical for the foreseeable future, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. The Cavs and Clippers are two franchises with needs on the perimeter who will wait and see if Brooklyn makes the 33-year-old Russian available as February’s trade deadline moves closer, or if Kirilenko and the Nets reach a buyout agreement before then, Wojnarowski adds.

Kirilenko left the team recently while the Nets were on a west coast trip to return to New York in order to deal with this family matter. With the veteran seemingly out of head coach Lionel Hollins‘ rotation prior to his departure from the team, Brooklyn has been looking for a trade partner who would be willing to take on the remaining balance of Kirilenko’s $3.3MM salary for this season, notes the Yahoo! scribe.

If the Nets were unable to find a contending team willing to acquire Kirilenko, then Brooklyn would likely need to package him along with future second round draft picks in order to find a rebuilding team with free cap space to rid themselves of the Russian, Wojnarowski adds. In that instance, Kirlilenko would likely be waived by the team acquiring him. The Sixers would certainly seem like a fit in this scenario, but Philadelphia has asked for too much draft compensation to close the deal with the Nets, Wojnarowski notes. Talks with Philadelphia are not completely dead, but no longer include Nets forward Sergey Karasev, Wojnarowski’s sources said. The Jazz were also said to be interested in acquiring Kirilenko, but there were conflicting reports regarding Utah’s involvement.

The Nets may be able to garner a better deal if they wait until February when contending teams would have a better handle on when Kirilenko would be able and willing to report to them, and this may remove the need for Brooklyn to part with any draft picks, Wojnarowski concludes.

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Kirilenko, Karasev

November 29th, 2014 at 8:46am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Celtics are struggling this season and are trying to maximize the talent that they have on their roster, but Boston is a team filled with complementary players and is badly in need of a star, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald opines. The coaching staff’s primary focus right now is to try and get the most from the players they currently have, notes Bulpett. “I think that’s the only way for me to look at it, and that’s the only way to do my job to the best of my ability — coach the guys that are available, coach the guys that are here as well as we possibly can,” head coach Brad Stevens said. “And I think we’re getting closer, as far as playing to our standards more often than not. There’s a reason we’ve been right there, and that’s because we’ve been playing pretty well. The key is now can we get a little bit better, so that we’re better than right there.”

Here’s the latest from the Atlantic Division:

In an interview with Russian media, Cavs coach David Blatt relayed that he was a big fan of Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko, whom he coached when both were members of Team Russia, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily reports. “It is unfortunate that Andrei Kirilenko is not playing, because, from my point of view, he is the greatest Russian basketball player of all time,” Blatt said. “He did so much for Russian basketball and for me personally, and I very much support him.“
When asked about the possibility of the Cavs obtaining Kirilenko via a trade, Blatt said, “In the NBA, there are very strict rules that prohibit coaches from commenting on such things about players on other teams. So in this respect, I will not say anything.”
Sergey Karasev‘s father, Vasily, spoke about his son’s frustration with his lack of playing time with the Nets in an interview with Timur Rostomov of Sport-Express (translation via the same NetsDaily piece). The elder Karasev said, “One season in the NBA has already passed on the bench, and now, that Sergey is 21 years [old], it’s imperative that he play, not sit. He understands this and is frustrated. He is not interested in salary. He just wants to get on the court, to grow and develop. As I understand it, the coach of Brooklyn, Lionel Hollins, does not see him in the lineup, so it’s difficult for Sergey to influence the situation. He needs to be patient.”

And-Ones: Thompson, AK-47, Nets, Mirotic

November 23rd, 2014 at 9:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

After agreeing to an extension with the Warriors last month, Klay Thompson got some words of wisdom from his father, reports Billy Witz of The New York Times. “I told him, with a contract extension like that comes a lot of responsibility,” said Mychal Thompson, a former overall No. 1 draft pick and now part of the Lakers broadcast team. “Now you have to prove to people that you’re underpaid. That means showing up every night and playing at the highest level. Now you have to prove that you’re worth that.” More from around the NBA..

The Warriors gambled by holding on to Thompson instead of trading for Kevin Love. Right now, it looks like that gamble is paying off, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Meanwhile, Thompson was happy to get an extension done. “It was great,” Thompson said. “It was a big relief, but it was cool to see just how much the Warriors believe in me, and believe I’m a building block. It makes me want to go out there and play hard every day.”
There are “hints out there” that the market for Nets forward Andrei Kirilenko may be broader than reported, both in terms of teams interested and what Brooklyn could get in return, according to Robert Windrem of Nets Daily.
Nets guard Deron Williams wishes his team had the same approach to team building as the Spurs, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “[San Antonio] is a team you envy, because they’ve had a system, they’ve had a coach and pretty much the same group of guys for a long time,” Williams said of the Spurs.
Sam Smith of NBA.com is impressed with the play of Bulls rookie Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic is a tremendous shooter at 6’10” and also boasts the ability to pass off the dribble.
Comparisons to James Harden might be a bit much, but basketball people are high on Duke star Justise Winslow, writes Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. “Top ten,” one veteran NBA scout told Zagoria “He is getting better, a little more experienced and he will slow down a little and soften his shot and watch out.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Cavaliers Notes: Kirilenko, James, Blatt

November 23rd, 2014 at 8:50am CST by Arthur Hill

In need of an athletic defender on the wing, the Cavaliers are keeping an eye on Andrei Kirilenko‘s situation with the Nets, reports Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group. Kirilenko was rumored this week to be involved in a possible trade to the Sixers, who are expected to waive him if the deal goes through. He is making more than $3.3MM this season and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Here’s more from Cleveland:

LeBron James told Joe Vardon of Northeast Ohio Media Group he is accepting blame for the Cavaliers‘ slow start, and that was before Saturday’s 17-point loss to the Raptors. “I can sustain my effort as well, as close to 48 minutes as possible, and the guys that feed off me,” James said. “I’ve been kind of waiting around a little bit to see what may happen, sometimes it’s been good, sometimes it hasn’t been good.” James was expected to make the Cavs instant contenders after he left the Heat to join the team as a free agent during the summer, but Cleveland has struggled to a 5-7 start.
James also took a hit from Chris Fedor of Northeast Ohio Media Media Group, who said the best player in the NBA hasn’t performed like it during the Cavaliers‘ four-game losing streak. Fedor faults James for poor play and bad body language and says as team leader James needs to set a better example for his impressionable teammates.
Saturday night’s collapse offered more proof that the Cavaliers are “fragile,” opines Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. That was James’ assessment of the team, and Amico wholeheartedly agrees, pointing out the inexperience of rookie head coach David Blatt, a weak bench that was outscored 51-19 by the Raptors’ reserves and a consistently poor defensive effort.

And-Ones: Mudiay, Gordon, Parsons

November 22nd, 2014 at 2:43pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Emmanuel Mudiay, a surefire lottery pick in next year’s NBA draft, has denied reports that he’ll leave China prior to the end of the CBA season in order to boost his draft stock, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv reports. Unnamed NBA sources were quoted as saying that Mudiay could opt to leave China early to keep his draft stock high if he’s playing well there, which would keep an aura of mystique around him similar to what surrounded Dante Exum last year, notes Zagoria. “This is all rumors, it’s completely false,” Mudiay said. “The media are the ones that like to come out with these things, but it’s not the reality.” Mudiay is currently projected as the No. 2 overall pick next year by Draft Express.

Here’s more from around the league:

In his weekly mailbag column, Nakia Hogan of The Times-Picayune addressed the possibility of the Pelicans dealing Eric Gordon. New Orleans still views Gordon as a key piece of the team and value continuity as they try to build a contender around Anthony Davis, notes Hogan. But Hogan also adds the caveat that if a deal came about that would make the franchise immediately better and help their future cap situation, then moving Gordon would be considered.
Hogan also believes that New Orleans should think twice about considering a deal for the Nets‘ Andrei Kirilenko, despite the Pelicans‘ need for depth at small forward. The Times-Picayune scribe cites Kirilenko’s possible off the court issues, as well as his ineffectiveness when he has played this season, as reasons New Orleans should pass on the Russian veteran.
In advance of Chandler Parsons‘ first visit to Houston since signing with the Mavs, the Rockets James Harden went on record saying the team was better off with Trevor Ariza, who replaced Parsons in Houston, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports. “His [Ariza’s] leadership, his defensive abilities, his shot-making — all three of those things are something that we were lacking last year,” said Harden. “[Ariza] brings that ability to the table this year.” The Rockets’ significant improvement on the defensive end certainly lends credence to Harden’s statement, notes MacMahon, with Houston lowering their points allowed per 100 possessions to 94.3, down from last season’s number of 103.1.

Nets, Sixers Discuss Andrei Kirilenko Deal

November 21st, 2014 at 3:24pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:24pm: The Nets would likely receive a trade exception if the teams were to do a deal, Youngmisuk tweets, meaning that the Sixers would probably send some combination of draft compensation, draft-and-stash prospects and cash to Brooklyn. Trade exceptions are created as functions of trades and they are not technically assets that change hands in deals.

3:05pm: Brooklyn and Philadelphia have had preliminary talks about a deal that would send Andrei Kirilenko to the Sixers, who would likely waive him, reports Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). Sergey Karasev is also involved in those discussions, Youngmisuk adds. It’s unclear what the Sixers are talking about sending to Brooklyn. Kirilenko is away from the Nets for personal reasons.

A source told Tim Bontemps of the New York Post that Kirilenko’s absence wasn’t related to his lack of playing time, as we passed along earlier, but Bontemps wrote in the same piece that it appeared “inevitable” that if the Nets didn’t trade him, they would strike a buyout deal. Still, a trade would most likely happen after December 15th, Bontemps says, when most players who signed this offseason become eligible to be traded and trade talk usually picks up leaguewide.

Karasev, the 19th pick from the 2013 draft, has seen even fewer minutes than Kirilenko has this season for the Nets, who acquired Karasev over the summer from the Cavs. The 21-year-old swingman has scored only two points in 14 minutes of action so far in 2014/15, and he didn’t see much time as a rookie last year in Cleveland, either. The Sixers nonetheless may see value in Karasev, since he became a first-round pick just a year and a half ago. He and Kirilenko are both natives of Russia, like Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.

The Nets and Sixers both have full 15-man rosters, but each team possesses multiple players without fully guaranteed salary, as our roster counts show. Kirilenko is making more than $3.3MM this season on his fully guaranteed contract, which expires this summer, while Karasev is due nearly $1.534MM this year and has one more guaranteed season on his rookie scale contract worth almost $1.6MM for 2015/16. Nets GM Billy King and Sixers GM Sam Hinkie swung a deal just last month in which the Nets gave up a protected 2019 second-round pick to entice the Sixers to absorb Marquis Teague‘s guaranteed salary, but Kirilenko is making about three times Teague’s pay, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).

Rift Developing Between Nets, Andrei Kirilenko?

November 21st, 2014 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:42pm: No buyout negotiations have taken place between Kirilenko’s camp and the team, sources tell Bontemps, adding that if a trade were to happen, it would likely not take place until after December 15th. Still, it appears “inevitable” that if a trade doesn’t happen, a buyout will, Bontemps writes, even though the Post scribe hears that Kirilenko’s leave of absence from the team isn’t related to his lack of playing time.

12:28pm: The Nets say Andrei Kirilenko won’t be joining them on their three-game road trip, notes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post, while a source tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that a resolution to the situation likely won’t happen until Kirilenko is on another team (Twitter links). The Nets cited personal reasons for Kirilenko’s absence, and coach Lionel Hollins told reporters today that he doesn’t know if the 33-year-old forward will be return to the team once it gets back from the trip.

Kirilenko has only seen a total of 36 minutes of action across seven of Brooklyn’s 12 games so far this season, a sharply reduced role even from last season’s career-low 19.0 minutes per game. He signed a two-year deal for about $6.5MM in the summer of 2013 that was so far beneath market value that it sparked concern that he and fellow Russian Mikhail Prokorov, the owner of the Nets, had worked out an under-the-table arrangement. An NBA investigation cleared them of any wrongdoing. The deal contained a player option for this season worth more than $3.3MM that Kirilenko chose to exercise to remain with the Nets, but it appears as though his relationship with the team has suffered since he made that decision in June.

The Nets have Joe Johnson and Kevin Garnett starting at the forward positions and Alan Anderson and Mirza Teletovic backing them up. Kirilenko, in his 13th NBA season, has played both small forward and power forward, but it appears as though Hollins prefers to play others. Kirilenko, a client of Marc Fleisher, is eligible to be traded immediately, unlike many players in the league whose teams must wait until at least December 15th. The Rockets are reportedly seeking trades at an unusual time for such activity, and they and the Cavs have apparently been in discussions of late with the Wolves about acquiring Corey Brewer, who like Kirilenko has established a reputation as a strong perimeter defender.

Andrei Kirilenko Opts In With Nets

June 24th, 2014 at 9:22am CST by Zachary Links

TUESDAY, 9:22am: Kirilenko has officially opted in, the team announced via press release.

MONDAY, 5:57pm: Forward Andrei Kirilenko has decided to opt in with the Nets for next season at $3.3MM, a source tells David Aldridge of NBA.com (on Twitter). Kirilenko inked a one-year deal with a player option with the Nets last summer that caused quite a bit of controversy in NBA circles.

AK47 turned down a $10MM+ player option with the Timberwolves to sign a one-year, ~$3.1MM deal with Brooklyn that included a player option at roughly the same total. Almost instantly, executives were in an uproar and accusations of impropriety starting flying quickly. The league looked into the matter though and, ultimately, the Nets and Kirilenko were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Kirilenko walked from a big payday with the Wolves and didn’t really boost his value in his first season with the Nets. In 45 games, Kirilenko averaged 5.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 1.6 APG in 19.0 minutes per night. The 33-year-old was dogged by back trouble early in the season and had something of an up-and-down year after that. The Nets were 30-15 in the games that Kirilenko played in but coach Jason Kidd took the veteran out of the game plan for more than one postseason contest.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Draft, Kirilenko

May 28th, 2014 at 8:08pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Sixers need to land at least one star player with their multitude of draft picks, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Coach Brett Brown also agreed with the article’s assessment, saying, “I think it’s important. I think it’s really important. Stars want to play with stars. And it’s too early to say anything about Michael [Carter-Williams] or what you can project Nerlens [Noel] out to be. Just because somebody’s chosen high in the draft doesn’t mean they’re going to be a star either.”

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Kirilenko, Celtics

October 12th, 2013 at 3:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Knicks GM Glen Grunwald rarely spoke with the media, so it was something of a surprise to see that his successor, Steve Mills, engaged in a 15-minute gab-fest yesterday with Knicks beat writers. The exchange was cordial except for one moment when Mills testily repeated his earlier assertion that Isiah Thomas doesn’t have any role with the team, as Marc Berman of the New York Post notes. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Andrei Kirilenko feels he’s reached a point in his career when he can afford to accept a discounted contract from the Nets in return for a shot at the title, but, “If it was 10 years ago, I would never have taken it — never, ever even thought about it,” Kirilenko told Andrew Keh of The New York Times.
The Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trade sent a pack of veterans from a contending team in Brooklyn to the rebuilding Celtics, but none of them are pouting, observes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
The Raptors aren’t going to make any drastic moves until at least 15 or 20 games into the regular season, and they probably won’t make any cuts to their camp roster until after the seventh preseason game, as Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes in his mailbag column.
Mike Sielski of the Philadelphia Inquirer sees much in common between the rebuilding projects the Sixers and Celtics are on.