Andrei Kirilenko Retires
JUNE 23RD, 9:06am: Kirilenko has made a final decision to retire, as he told Russia’s Sportexpress (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
JUNE 10TH, 8:16am: Retirement is the most likely outcome, Kirilenko admitted to the Russian media outlet Championat, offering only a 20% chance that he’ll play again as he cited the feeling that his body is not up for another full season (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).
JUNE 2ND, 8:38am: Kirilenko put the brakes on retirement talk, telling Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com via email that calling it quits is indeed a possibility for him but that it’s not yet a certainty, and that he’ll ponder the idea further over the summer (Twitter link).
JUNE 1ST, 6:34pm: Andrei Kirilenko has decided to retire after failing to receive an invitation from the Russian National Team to play in Eurobasket this summer, David Pick of Eurobasket.com tweets. That does not come as a surprise, since Kirilenko planned to make last season his final one in professional basketball. The 34-year-old most recently played with CSKA Moscow in his native Russia, appearing in 11 games and averaging 8.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Kirilenko made his last NBA appearance with the Nets early last season. He appeared in seven games for a total of 36 minutes before taking a leave of absence in November to tend to his wife, who reportedly endured a complicated pregnancy before giving birth to a healthy baby boy in February.
Brooklyn traded him to the Sixers in December but Kirilenko refused to report to Philadelphia. The Sixers placed him on unpaid suspension before releasing him in an apparent buyout deal shortly after the trade deadline passed. He signed with CSKA Moscow in late February.
He spent parts of 13 seasons in the NBA, mostly with the Jazz. He joined Utah in 2001, two years after he was drafted 24th overall. Noted for his defensive prowess and versatility, Kirilenko spent 10 seasons in Utah, making an All-Star appearance in 2004.
He returned to Europe to play for CSKA Moscow during the 2011 lockout and stayed with the team for the balance of the 2011/12 season. He returned to the NBA the next year with the Timberwolves, but he surprisingly turned down a $10.219MM player option for 2012/13. Instead, he inked a two-year deal for about $6.509MM with the Nets that sparked controversy given the steep discount and the presence of fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov as Brooklyn’s owner. The NBA investigated the deal after complaints from at least one other team, but the league found no wrongdoing.
However, Kirilenko failed to make a major impact for Prokhorov’s Nets. For his NBA career, he averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 30.0 minutes per game with an 18.7 PER and 47.4% shooting. Kirilenko made more than $106.738MM during his NBA career, according to data from Basketball Reference and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, though that doesn’t account for any money he lost during his Sixers suspension this year.
And-Ones: Thunder, Grizzlies, Antic
- The Knicks, Kings and Hornets are the teams most likely to trade out of the Top 10 in the draft, Mannix reports in a separate tweet.
- Guards Andre Hollins and Deville Smith and forwards Nino Johnson and Aaron White worked out for the Grizzlies on Monday, completing the team’s predraft workouts, according to Grizzlies.com.
- R.J. Hunter, Anthony Brown, Olivier Hanlan, Christian Wood, Sir’Dominic Porter and Mouhammadou Jaiteh will work out for the Wizards on Tuesday, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. (Twitter link).
- Fenerbahce of the Turkish League is interested in signing Hawks free agent center Pero Antic, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia.
Draft Notes: Porzingis, Kings, Pacers
The Knicks held a private workout for Kristaps Porzingis on Monday morning, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The Knicks were impressed by his workout in Las Vegas two weeks ago and wanted to take a second look at the Latvian power forward, Isola continues. D’Angelo Russell is still the Knicks’ likely choice at No. 4 if he’s available and they do not trade the pick, Isola adds. Marc Berman of the New York Post, who also reported the workout, notes that team president Phil Jackson said he is trying to draft a starter with the fourth pick, which would make Porzingis an odd fit. “He’s absolutely not a starter on a good team next season and maybe not [on] a bad team,’’ one NBA scout told Berman. “He’s not physically ready. I’d be shocked if they took him.’’
In other draft news around the league:
- Officials from many teams sense that the interest the Sixers have in Porzingis is overstated and a ruse to convince competitors to trade up for the pick, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress writes in his latest mock draft.
- Many believe that the Grizzlies, at pick No. 25, are the team that’s made the reported promise to Jarell Martin, Givony writes in the same piece.
- Willie Cauley-Stein would not make sense with the Kings’ lottery pick because he wouldn’t be a good fit alongside DeMarcus Cousins, Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee tweets. Multiple scouts told Voisin that Cauley-Stein would clog the lane and limit the spacing for Cousins in the low post. In contrast, the Kings are intrigued by the pairing of Frank Kaminsky and Cousins, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Kaminsky had a strong workout with the Kings on Monday, Mannix adds.
- The Celtics are trying to move up in the draft and have had discussions with at least one team in the Top 10, Mannix writes a separate tweet. Mannix quotes a rival executive that Boston is being “aggressive, one of the few teams thinking big.”
- The Pacers could trade out of the lottery and into the late teens or early 20s of the first round if the player they target at No. 11 is taken ahead of them, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Wesley Matthews Seeking $15MM Annually
Wesley Matthews will seek a multi-year deal that pays approximately $15MM annually, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. A source with knowledge of the situation told Amick of Matthews’ intentions, which refutes a report last month that indicated the unrestricted free agent guard was willing to give the Trail Blazers a discount. Matthews essentially confirmed Amick’s report to Jabari Young of Comcast SportsNet Northwest on Monday evening, saying “I don’t think that’s an unreasonable number.” (Twitter link)
The contract that Matthews seeks is a mild surprise, considering that he tore his left Achilles’ tendon in early March. However, Matthews has already returned to basketball activities and is expected to be ready by the start of the next season, Amick reports, though he might have to proceed with caution during the preseason. Matthews could still re-sign with the Blazers, who could also lose Arron Afflalo, the player who replaced him in the lineup. Afflalo plans to decline his $7.75MM player option and become an unrestricted free agent.
Prior to the injury, Matthews was enjoying arguably his best season. He was averaging 15.9 points and 1.3 steals per game and had a gaudy player efficiency rating of 16.1. He shot 38.9% from behind the arc and only the Warriors’ Splash Brothers’ duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson made more three-pointers per game. Defensively, he ranked fifth among shooting guards in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus/Minus.
Matthews calculates that the major increase in the salary cap beginning next season gives him more leverage, since players with his proven track record will become more costly to acquire, Amick adds. The Knicks and Celtics are two of the teams that may make a run at Matthews. Amick also raises the possibility of the Spurs or Mavericks signing Matthews as a means to lure teammate, close friend and unrestricted free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.
Nuggets Rumors: Draft Deals, Winslow, Nori
The Nuggets might add another first-round pick via a trade, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post reports. The Nuggets have some movable pieces that could land them another pick later in the lottery after they select at No. 7, Dempsey continues. There’s a good chance the Nuggets will make at least one move this week, since GM Tim Connelly told Dempsey that he will be proactive during draft night. “We want to be aggressive,” Connelly said. “We’re looking at any and all scenarios, and we’ve already proactively made a lot of those calls. We’ll see what we can do to make it interesting and hopefully give Coach [Michael Malone] the best team possible.”
In other Nuggets news:
- The club would have to create a space, probably through a trade, to fit in Justise Winslow if they draft him, Dempsey adds in a separate piece. The Duke swingman could play shooting guard at times but he’s a natural small forward, Dempsey continues. The team already has Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler at that spot. Winslow’s ability to run the floor and defend his position would make him a good fit with a defensive-minded coach like Malone, Dempsey concludes.
- Tyus Jones’ workout with the Nuggets today will be his last before the draft, as he tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities as part of a larger Q&A session with the Minnesota native.
- Malone will hire away assistant coach Micah Nori from the Kings, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. Malone was fired as Sacramento’s head coach in December. Nori was previously an assistant with the Raptors, Aldridge adds.
Central Notes: Pistons, Vaughn, Cavs
The Pistons are not expecting their lottery pick to become a starter next season but they will keep the pick unless they get a superstar talent, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports. Coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy told the team’s beat reporters on Monday that with ample cap space — approximately $20MM even after the Ersan Ilyasova deal — that he’ll fill the starting small forward vacancy through free agency or a trade, Langlois continues. Tayshaun Prince, the starting small forward during the second half of last season, is an unrestricted free agent. Van Gundy virtually shut the door on reports that the Pistons were shopping the No. 8 overall pick, including one on Monday about a possible deal with the Knicks for guard Tim Hardaway Jr., Langlois adds. “The one thing we are firm on is – minus a superstar being available – we won’t trade out of the draft,” Van Gundy said. “For your salary structure and everything else, it’s too important. It’s probably unlikely that we trade back, but it’s not impossible.”
In other news around the Central Division
- Van Gundy acknowledged during the same press conference that he was “not entirely optimistic” about retaining unrestricted free agent Greg Monroe, the Associated Press reports. Though Van Gundy indicated it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, Monroe is expected to find a starting job elsewhere. The trade for Ilyasova gives the Pistons a starting-caliber power forward to replace him.
- Shooting guard Rashad Vaughn was among six players brought in by the Bucks in their final pre-draft workout, according to the team’s website. Vaughn is rated No. 19 on ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s Top 100 prospects list, twice as high as DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony, who pegs him at No. 38. The group consisted of mostly late first-round and second-round prospects, including centers Mouhammadou Jaiteh and Josh Smith (Georgetown) and forwards Christian Wood, Cody Larson and J.P. Tokoto. The Bucks own the No. 17 and No. 46 picks in the draft.
- Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas was part of a group workout with the Cavaliers on Monday, according to Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link). Christmas is rated No. 34 on Ford’s board and No. 43 by Givony. The Cavs hold the No. 24 and No. 53 selections on Thursday.
Western Notes: Wade, Lakers, Nuggets
Dwyane Wade sees the Lakers as an possible destination if he declines his player option, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. There is a mutual interest, league sources told Mannix, despite the Lakers being in rebuild mode. Wade reportedly would welcome $20MM salaries if he turns down his $16.125MM player option. The lure of playing in Los Angeles and the team’s ample salary cap room could be the attractions for Wade, Mannix adds in a separate tweet. The Lakers have also been linked to free agent Goran Dragic, Wade’s backcourt partner in Miami.
In other news around the Western Conference:
- The Lakers are well aware of the failures of previous No. 2 overall picks, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register reports. Since 2000, only three players drafted at that spot – Tyson Chandler, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant – became All-Stars while several have been complete busts, including Darko Milicic, Hasheem Thabeet and Stromile Swift, Oram continues. That does not mean the Lakers are inclined to trade the pick, Oram adds. “I don’t think we’re going to end up saying, ‘15 of the last 18 No. 2 picks have not been great selections, therefore we must trade the pick,’” Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak told Oram.
- Tyus Jones is expected to work out for the Nuggets on Monday, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (Twitter link). That’s an interesting development, considering Denver has the No. 7 overall pick and the Duke point guard is currently rated No. 23 on ESPN Insider Chad Ford’s Top 100 Prospects list and No. 14 by DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony. That may be a signal the Nuggets are looking to trade down or acquire another pick.
- Kings coach George Karl doubts that the player they draft with the No. 6 overall pick could play 30 minutes a game next season, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee tweets. That follows the thinking of many scouts who see this draft filled with role players, Jones adds in a separate tweet.
Rockets Mulling Options On Papanikolaou
The Rockets have not decided whether to exercise the team option on Kostas Papanikolaou‘s contract or try to re-sign him as a free agent, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rockets VP Gersson Rosas told Feigen the team is still mulling both options, though they want the 6’9” forward back.
This contradicts a recent report by Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia that the team had already decided to exercise the team option. Still, Papanikolaou’s salary of nearly $4.798MM wouldn’t become guaranteed until October 4th, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders first revealed, even if Houston indeed picks up its team option by the deadline, which is June 29th unless the sides negotiated an earlier date.
The Rockets would still retain his Non-Bird rights to re-sign him if they declined the option. He would then become a restricted free agent if they extended a qualifying offer of close to $6MM, but that qualifying offer would entail guaranteed salary. If the Rockets don’t extend a qualifying offer, they would have to renounce his rights to rid themselves of his cap hold of more than $5.757MM. Thus, picking up the option would give the Rockets the most flexibility possible, while still allowing them to have the final say on whether Papanikolaou plays for them next season.
Papanikolaou cracked the rotation in the first half of last season but the acquisition of Josh Smith limited his minutes the rest of the way. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game before Smith joined the team and 2.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG and just 12.1 MPG in 21 appearances afterward.
Southeast Rumors: Hawks, Cauley-Stein, Magic
The prospect of losing starting forwards DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap in free agency complicates the Hawks’ decision-making entering the draft, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta may have to consider drafting for a potential need rather than just going with the best player available strategy, Vivlamore continues. The Hawks have two second-round picks this year and next June, which could help them move up from the No. 15 overall spot in a draft-day trade, Vivlamore adds. If the Hawks are confident they can re-sign their top free agents, they will have more incentive to go with a developmental player, as the team’s assistant GM Wes Wilcox told Vivlamore. “You may end up with a 19-year-old where there is positional opportunity or a 22-year-old where there is not a positional opportunity,” Wilcox said. “That is where we believe in our development staff, our assistant coaches, to where we can continue to improve the player and give them a chance to be a good Hawk long-term.”
In other news around the Southeast Division:
- Willie Cauley-Stein’s defensive prowess and superior athleticism make him a serious option for the Magic with their No. 5 overall pick, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel opines. The Magic need an upgrade on defense and Cauley-Stein’s shot-blocking and ability to guard all five positions may be too tempting for Orlando to pass up, Robbins adds.
- The Hornets hosted Cauley-Stein for a solo workout on Friday, the team’s website reports. That could be a signal that Cauley-Stein will not slip past the No. 9 spot, since that’s the pick Charlotte owns in the first round.
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The Magic pulled off a surprise in last year’s draft by selecting Aaron Gordon and that could happen again, especially if they trade down, Robbins writes in a separate piece. Myles Turner, Kevon Looney, Trey Lyles, Devin Booker or Bobby Portis could wind up with the Magic, depending upon their draft strategy, Robbins adds.
Pistons Notes: Kaminsky, Turner, Jaiteh
- Detroit also brought in point guards Travis Trice, T.J. McConnell and Kenneth Smith and center Mouhammadou Jaiteh on Saturday to wrap up its scheduled pre-draft workouts, according to David Mayo of MLive.com. The Pistons worked out 51 players, including likely first-rounders Devin Booker, Sam Dekker, Stanley Johnson, Kevon Looney, Kelly Oubre, Bobby Portis and Winslow, as well as Kaminsky and Turner, while guard Terran Petteway was the only player who worked out twice, Mayo reports.
- Jaiteh plans to leave the French league and play in the NBA next season if he’s drafted, Mayo writes in a separate piece. “My goal is to join the team next year,” Jaiteh said to the Detroit media. “I’ve had three years now playing overseas pro. I really earned some experience, some maturity, and I think if I want to keep improving fast, I think the best is to be around the best players in the world, with the best coaches. That’s why I want to join the team this year and fight for it.”
- If the Pistons move down in the first round, Boston would appear to be a likely trading partner, Mayo speculates in his weekly mailbag story. The Celtics have two first rounders at No. 16 and No. 28, but in Mayo’s thinking the Pistons would probably be more interested in a package of the No. 16 pick and a second-rounder with a non-guaranteed contract, rather than swapping for both first rounders. The Pistons probably don’t have the assets to move up from No. 8 and in all likelihood will retain the pick, Mayo concludes.