SH Blog: Kirilenko done in Brooklyn?

As you’ll probably notice from the headline, Andrei Kirilenko’s time with the Nets may be drawing to a close. What makes this interesting, apart from how good Kirilenko used to be, is that he turned down a sizable contract from the Timberwolves to come to Brooklyn in the first place on a veteran minimum deal.

Kirilenko has barely seen the floor this year, and last year was easily the worst of his career, but you’ve got to imagine there’s an NBA team somewhere that can use him, perhaps in a sort of Shawn Marion/Vince Carter role.

So anyway, here’s one report, from Nets Daily:

In an interview with a Russian sports publication Tuesday, Andrei Kirilenko said “optimism is over” for him and that Lionel Hollins had told him after first few games of the season, “Andrei, I do not see your role on the team.” Kirilenko says he was surprised and contends he can “probably help the team.”.

In previous interviews with Pavel Osipov of Sport-Express, Kirilenko had expressed optimism about his role in the team’s plans and had praised Hollins, making favorable comparisons between him and Jason Kidd. Now that’s changed. Here’s what he told Osipov, according to a Google Translation.

“I was satisfied with Brooklyn. I liked the system of the club, which is strongly reminiscent of the one that I played in Utah. I liked Lionel Hollins. Yes, this is no joke! He is a very competent expert who is coaching well, but …

“After the first few games of the season Hollins himself came up and said, “Andrei, I do not see your role on the team.” I respect him for his honesty and candor. I think in this situation it’s silly to demand something as a way to put pressure on the coach.

“In fact, my time was beginning to shrink with every next match in the course of the preseason. But then, I did not attach much importance to it. And in the first 3 – 4 games of the regular season, I did not truly understand what was happening…”

Kirilenko said Hollins “stressed that he was pleased with my professional attitude” So no hard feelings, he added, saying of Hollins, “We understood each other.”

And there’s also this one, from Devin Kharpertian at The Brooklyn Game:

Andrei Kirilenko will be without the Nets for the team’s two-game road trip, and most likely forever.

Though the team cited “personal reasons” for Kirilenko’s absence, a team source confirmed to The Brooklyn Game that Kirilenko’s lack of minutes and boot from the rotation played a factor in him leaving the team indefinitely.

When asked if Kirilenko had played his last game for the Nets, one high-ranking Nets source said, “If I were a betting man, I’d say probably.”

Coach Lionel Hollins told the team’s beat reporters that he wasn’t sure if Kirilenko would return to the team after the trip, later saying he did not expect Kirilenko to return. It appears the 6’9″ forward is on his way out of Brooklyn.

MELO WANTS A ‘BULLETPROOF LEGACY’

If you haven’t read this Eli Saslow piece for ESPN the Magazine, you should get on that. Quickly. Here’s a link, and an excerpt:

Anthony turned 30 earlier this year, a birthday that brought about its own kind of identity crisis, but on this evening he is especially in the mood for self-examination. He just flew back from a preseason Knicks game at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, where many of the fans came wearing his No. 15 Orange jersey, the one he last wore when he was 18 years old. Being in Syracuse was like “visiting a time warp,” he says, with Jim Boeheim again watching courtside and hundreds of fans waiting outside the locker room with Sharpies and faded 2003 NCAA championship memorabilia. The experience left him wistful; Syracuse is the one place where he is still uniformly beloved, still a winner, and where nobody debates his abilities, his motives or his legacy. “It was all pretty simple there,” he says, because that was before the money and all the criticisms that came with it: selfish, greedy, overpaid. “Twelve years since then,” he says. “Can you believe that? And that right there is the last time my reputation was really exactly how I wanted it to be.”

His professional life has brought Anthony many things: a wife, a son, seven NBA All-Star Games, a scoring title, a couple of Olympic gold medals and, yes, ridiculous amounts of money. He just signed a five-year contract with the Knicks worth $124 million, forgoing a better chance to win a quick NBA title with the Bulls and instead staying with a lesser team that offered a longer, more lucrative deal. “I’ve got money. That’s not the problem,” he says. The problem as he sees it is that he is still defined mostly by what he lacks. No championships. No universal adoration. No sense of peace with his own place in the world as he begins the transition from the prime to the twilight of his career.

“What I really want is a bulletproof legacy,” he says. “How can I be known for being a visionary, for being truly great?”

WESTBROOK AND DURANT PARTICIPATE IN NON-CONTACT DRILLS

Great news for the Thunder, of course. But the hole the currently last-place Thunder have dug may be too deep to climb out of, especially in the killer West. But if anyone can do it, it’s these two.

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman:

As expected, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant participated in practice Saturday, joining their Thunder teammates in select portions of non-contact drills.

Both are said to be progressing from their respective injuries on schedule.

“They looked good,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “They’ve been with the group the whole time, but (Saturday) was the first day they’ve actually participated in some of the drills. It wasn’t the entire practice.”

Brooks declined to provide details on what each player did Saturday and said only that they were involved in portions of practice.

Durant is scheduled to have his surgically-repaired right foot evaluated Thanksgiving, according to the team’s original timetable for his recovery. Westbrook originally was projected to have his surgically-repaired right hand be evaluated two days after Thanksgiving.

“It was good to see them out there with the group,” Brooks said. “They’re progressing well. I’m sure in the next couple of days they’re going to continue to add more to it.”

Brooks said it’s too early to say whether he will ease the two cornerstones back into the rotation and manage their minutes. But that has been the route the Thunder has taken with several players in the past, including Westbrook last year when he was returning from multiple knee surgeries.

WHAT CAN DAVID BLATT DO WITH THE CAVS’ LINEUP?

Interesting musings here from Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal after Lou Williams came off the bench and tore up Cleveland en route to a big Raptors win:

No one was crying after the Cavs blew an 18-point lead and lost by 17, but David Blatt is certainly grasping for ideas. “Haven’t had a losing record in my career,” Blatt said, “and will not have one here.”

Hearing that was a bit jarring. After a preseason loss to the Mavericks, Blatt joked the Cavs could no longer go 90-0 (counting the preseason). Somehow within a six-week span, Blatt went from joking about going undefeated to just finishing .500.

He admitted he is contemplating lineup changes, perhaps even before the Cavs play again at home Monday against the Magic. I wrote a week ago Joe Harris would be starting soon if he continued at his current pace, but he has not. Harris has struggled a bit at both ends in recent games (he went scoreless in 16 minutes Saturday night), but I’m not sure what other move Blatt has.

Swapping Tristan Thompson for Anderson Varejao solves nothing except maybe creating more pick-and-roll opportunities for Kevin Love. It would be headline-grabbing drastic to bench either Love or Kyrie Irving, which leaves only the shooting guard spot. His options there are limited since going back to Dion Waiters at this point seems unlikely.

That leaves Blatt choosing between Harris and Mike Miller, who got up two shots in 12 minutes Saturday. As Blatt still battles to find a consistent rotation, none of these guys have any idea when they’re going in or how long they’ll play once they’re in the game. That makes establishing a rhythm difficult.

A number of Maccabi players and personnel told me during the team’s trip here in October that Blatt would routinely empty his bench and play as many as 10 guys in the first quarter. Then he would ride the hot hands the rest of the way. Blatt confirmed it, too. That, obviously, will not work in the NBA (imagine sitting Love because Lou Amundson made a couple baskets early), but it perhaps helps explain why he’s struggling so much to settle on a rotation.

As it stands, the Cavs are getting nothing out of their bench. That in itself is perplexing given how deep this team looked on paper in the preseason. But Cavs reserves were outscored this weekend 91-28.