Brooklyn Nets: Is There Really No Role For Andrei Kirilenko?

When Andrei Kirilenko signed with the Brooklyn Nets, it raised an eyebrow or two. It almost didn’t seem fair, after adding Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, here was another high quality veteran for Brooklyn.

In Kirilenko’s case, he was a veteran who came cheap courtesy of one of the strangest and most suspicious contracts the NBA has ever seen.

Having returned to the NBA after a season back home in Russia, Kirilenko signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and put together an impressive season, proving he was still more than good enough to mix it in the NBA.

The logical assumption was to believe that Kirilenko would stay in Minnesota to continue to build on that base, as by opting in to his second-year player option, the Russian stood to earn $10 million for the 2013-14 season.

So, you can imagine the surprise around the league when Kirilenko decided instead to sign in Brooklyn on a two-year deal worth a total of $6.5 million.

It made no sense. Everyone felt there must have been some unwritten agreement on a future contract, or some incredible deal sweetener that nobody other than Kirilenko and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov would ever know about.

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Either way, if there was one thing that was certain, it was that the Brooklyn Nets had snagged themselves one of the best value deals in the NBA.

In his first season with the Nets, the 33-year-old struggled with injuries and as a result only made 45 appearances in total. Still in pretty limited minutes across those 45 games, Kirilenko still posted impressive numbers, showing that he hadn’t lost his touch as a stat sheet stuffer just yet.

Entering into this season, his hopes were then high that with a new coach, Lionel Hollins, he may be afforded greater playing time. That couldn’t be further from the case though, and in the last week Kirilenko’s frustration seems to have come to a head.

As a player who has frequently suffered with injury problems, it’s a struggle for Kirilenko to understand not playing when healthy.

Speaking to Tim Bontemps of the New York Post last week after being made inactive for a game against the Miami Heat the night before, Kirilenko laid all the information out there and made the whole situation seem very simple:

"It’s tough, but there’s nothing I can do. I’m not the one making decisions, and it is what it is."

What becomes clearer with every quote from Kirilenko is how this can be nothing other than the end of the road for him and the Brooklyn Nets.

"Kirilenko said Hollins has been open with him about his decision to leave him out of the rotation.“I really appreciate it,” Kirilenko said, “but it doesn’t make things easier.”When asked if he was healthy, Kirilenko said: “I feel fine.”When asked what he thought he had to do in order to get back into Hollins’ rotation, he admitted: “I have no idea.”"

Since that time, Kirilenko has been inactive due to “personal reasons” and in all likelihood, he will never play a game for the Brooklyn Nets again. As the team look for a suitable trade partner, the big question is, do the Nets not have any role in which Kirilenko could help them?

Kirilenko has long shown himself to be one of the best two-way players in the NBA, and with the Nets struggling to start the season, it’s hard to make a case for them having no spot where Kirilenko could help.

The process may take some time, but one thing’s for sure, Kirilenko’s next big NBA contribution is likely going to happen in a different city.

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