The Nets have been busy this offseason, and they’ve now added one more name to the list of new talent: Andrei Kirilenko.
Brooklyn has reached a deal with the former Timberwolves forward on a two-year, mini-midlevel exception, according to The New York Post. Kirilenko will now make $3.18 million next season, a surprising pay cut seeing as he opted out of the final year of his contract with Minnesota. Had he stayed, the forward was set to make $10 million in 2013-14.
After the trade that sent former Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Nets, Brooklyn was in line to lock down Bogdan Bogdanovic, according to USA Today. That deal never came to fruition, as a buyout with Bogdanovic’s Turkish team fell through.
This made way for the Nets to secure Kirilenko, a piece that will only strengthen Brooklyn. The forward averaged 12.4 points per game and six rebounds last season, his first back in the NBA. He played in Utah with the Jazz from 2001-11 before taking his game to Russia in 2011-12.
