Nets Sign Andrei Kirilenko

FRIDAY, 3:50pm: The Nets have officially signed Kirilenko, the team announced today in a press release.

THURSDAY, 6:22pm: According to multiple reports, Andrei Kirilenko has agreed to sign with the Nets for their taxpayer's mini mid-level exception, which is worth about $3.1MM.  The move was first reported by longtime NBA writer Peter Vecsey (Twitter link) and then confirmed by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link), who later tweeted that the deal is a two-year contract with a player option for the second year.  The 6-foot-9 forward is the latest big splash for the Nets in an offseason full of them.  He will join a talented and determined group of veterans in a ring-or-bust environment in Brooklyn.

Kirilenko, 32, averaged 12.4 PPG and 5.7 RPG last year for the Timberwolves after spending the entire lockout-shortened season of 2011/12 playing back in his native Russia.  He spent the 10 years prior in a Jazz uniform.  While he wasn't the All-Star he was in his Utah days last year, Kirilenko was still an efficient player for Minnesota, tallying a PER of 17.67 in 64 games. He will presumably come off the bench in Brooklyn.

This moves promises to raise some eyebrows, as Kirilenko turned down a player option from the Wolves worth more than $10MM and has now chosen to sign with the Nets and fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov for considerably less.  Prior to his NBA career, Kirilenko played for CSKA Moscow from 1998 to 2001, then owned by Prohkorov.  We had heard Kirilenko's name primarily connected with the Spurs and Cavs of late, so this news definitely comes as a surprise.  Just yesterday, Bondy reported that there was "nothing happening" between Kirilenko and the Nets.

Kirilenko is represented by Marc Fleisher at Entersport, as shown in our agency database

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