Andrei Kirilenko To Return To NBA

8:34pm: Several league executives believe the Timberwolves are pursuing Andrei Kirilenko. Kirilenko is no longer considering Brooklyn, tweets Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. The Star Tribune's Jerry Zgoda believes the Wolves may offer Kirilenko a deal somewhere along the lines of two years and $18MM. (Twitter link)

3:39pm: According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, the Nets are making a "hard push" to sign Kirilenko, despite only being to offer the veteran's minimum. Stein confirms that the Warriors are also in the hunt for the veteran forward.

12:04pm: The Nets have not been officially informed that Kirilenko won't sign with them, so that possibility still could be alive, says Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).

11:22am: After spending the 2011/12 season overseas, Andrei Kirilenko will return to the NBA, he confirmed today. Kirilenko told Russia's R-Sport (English link via Sportando) that he has informed CSKA Moscow president Andrei Vatutin of his intentions to continue his career in the NBA.

Kirilenko has long been linked to the Nets, in large part due to his friendship with the team's owner, Mikhail Prokhorov. However, a source tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link) that Kirilenko is not interested in signing in Brooklyn for the veteran's minimum, which is all the Nets could offer.

If the Nets are out of the running, Kirilenko's NBA destination is a bit of a mystery. There are a few teams with cap space or exceptions left to make the Russian forward a competitive offer, but many of those clubs are non-contenders — it seems unlikely the 31-year-old would make the jump to the NBA unless he were signing with a playoff team.

The Warriors are one team recently reported to have interest in Kirilenko.

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