Great deal. AK brings a lot to the table, rebounding, shotblocking, defense, scoring... He is worth every penny of the 3.1M.
Quick question, when Kirilenko signed that 86M extension way ago with the Jazz, what was the general opinion around it? Watched some old tape and he seemed to be a really elite defender..
Woj just wrote an article where apparently other owners in the league are pissed at this deal and want an inquiry. Found the following reply on another forum...pretty much sums up how I feel about this situation. People are way overreacting.
Because Kirilenko by all reports was in search of an 8m a year deal for 3 years. now he signed for one year at 3M!?!?!? The difference between this and the ray allen situation is that People think Prohohrov is just paying Kirilenko under the table basically. Which I'm pretty sure is illegal.
If this was 2006, then I'd completely agree with you. Brooklyn is a house of cards to me- way too many things can go wrong real quick. Williams is the only guy who can bring it every night at an elite level, and he mails it in all the time. Brook Lopez is pretty good, and he's a solid piece as well. After that, things get hazy. Most of their other 'studs' are on the wrong side of their 30s (I'm lookin at you, KG). Is their bench solid? Their backup PG is Shaun Livingston.
He was looking for it but what were the actual contract numbers and lengths he was offered? If he was actually offered a 3 year deal worth around 10m a year...well that would be a little shady. But if he had misread the market and he was getting offers of 2 years @ 6m or something, why wouldn't he take a little less money and play for a winning team? AK's made his big money...plus his wife is loaded as well so taking ~3m less a year to play for a (possibly) contender instead of middling teams like the wolves make sense. As of right now, a lot of people are comparing his current contract with the nets to $10 million a year...and that's just not a fair comparison. NO ONE was offering him 10 mil after he opted out.
Not only that, but he gets to play with a PG that he's played with before and an an owner that he's played for before. The Nets are likely a popular team in Russia thanks to the owner, so he gets to be marketed in his home country. There are all sorts of logical reasons to join the Nets that don't involve anything shady.
No i agree theres no issue with taking less money to play for a contender, plenty of players have done it, and yes I'm doubtful he would've made anywhere near the 10M in free agency. The only point of concern people have is that he is potentially being paid under the table, given Prohkorovs shady past and them being Russian. Basically that money is being made up by avenues other than his NBA payment. But I'd be surprised if they were able to prove any wrong doing.
I'm playing devils advocate here btw. As has been noted, AK has made PLENTY of money, and why not play with a former teammate/ for your countryman billion owner?
well yea chemistry was also a factor when they never had the starting lineup they signed for and switched coach after 5 games. If I recall right after the ASB (when their players were getting more healthy), lakers had the 3rd best record which propel them into the playoffs. But of course, they got swept by the WCF champion Spurs when they didn't have their best player in Kobe. Anywho I'm just saying teams with talent like that will get far albeit any injuries. BKN was a decent team already without PP, KG, JT, and AK. Now add them, their players will be a lot more fresh and don't require heavy minutes. BKN will be scary.
Nets probed, cleared by NBA in Kirilenko signing [rquoter]From Russia with … nothing shady. That was the finding of a “thorough” NBA investigation into the Nets’ summer signing of free agent forward Andrei Kirilenko, multiple league sources told The Post. The league, after getting complaints from at least one other team that suggested improper agreements, examined the signing and found nothing against the rules.[/rquoter]
Mother Russia will never relinquish the secrets of this under the table deal. It is hidden deep in the gulags of Siberia, where the NBA investigators dared not venture.
I think the issue most people would have had (assuming it's true) is he could have gotton the same if not more $$$ from San Antonio which is a much better fit/bet/minutes
Its a one year deal worth 3M, not multiple for 3. Lets suppose the best offer he can get is 6M for two years, why would he turn down 12M for 3M? If he didnt care about money so much why would he turn down the wolves contract in the firs place?
