[Mavs Rule]

Kirilenko wants out; Dallas an option?
By Matt Carter | September 22nd, 2007
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Andrei Kirilenko wants out of Utah. That seems to be the general consensus, at least with the increasing number of stories the Salt Lake Tribune is publishing about it.

Kirilenko initially told the Russian Sport Express of his desire to move away from Jerry Sloan and Utah, which also claims he would be willing to walk away from the $63 million remaining on his contract in order to do so. The most recent story suggests that Utah’s teammates don’t even necessarily want him back. In an interview with radio station 1280 The Zone Deron Williams openly criticized Kirilenko’s work ethic, claiming he was “always the first guy off the court” and didn’t always feel the desire to pass to him over some of the harder-working players.

If this news doesn’t indicate Kirilenko will be traded (or possibly be off to Europe) soon, I don’t know what will. Jerry Sloan’s not going to be willing to put up with an unhappy player from an extended period of time, and Kirilenko has said he’d be willing to join up with any franchise just as long as it’s not the Jazz. I’d assume there to be at least 12 to 15 teams that would at least make a call about Andrei, even in spite of the recent claims about his work ethic.

Would Dallas be one potential suitor? It’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t at least make a call. Kirilenko is one of the better defenders in the NBA, and his offensive game (with the exception of last season) is pretty solid. He seems like a perfect player at the 3 position to run alongside Dirk Nowitzki.

As with all trades, the problem would simply be sending off an attractive package that Utah would be willing to accept. We can pretty much assume that Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard, and Devin Harris aren’t being dealt anytime soon. Most of the trade rumor talk this summer has centered on Jason Terry, and his salary would put a massive dent in acquiring AK47. It would take another player to make the deal, possibly Greg Buckner. Buckner would actually be a decent fit in Utah due to his defensive intensity and ability to shoot the three ball (even if he didn’t show it much in Dallas). The problem would more or less be finding a spot for Terry on the Utah roster. With Deron Williams most of their minutes at the PG position will be taken, and starting Terry at the 2 would give Utah a pretty small backcourt. We were willing to start both Terry and Harris, but I’m not sure Utah wants to give up that much size in the backcourt. Terry would probably take on a role similar to Derek Fisher last season, as a guy to hit open shots and provide energy.

Personally I’d like to see if it is possible to execute a trade without sending Terry away, as I think he’s been an important part of the team for the past three years. Unfortunately I’m not sure Utah would want Jerry Stackhouse and his injury problems, or Erick Dampier and his contract. DeSagana Diop may intrigue them simply because he’d be a good compliment on defense to Carlos Boozer, but if we included him there’d still be a good bit of salary to accumulate. Therefore you’d probably have to get a third team involved, but I’m not sure any other team would be that interested without getting Kirilenko in return. It would probably have to include a good many players and salary, more change than Dallas really needs.

As much as I like Kirilenko’s game, I don’t think it’s very likely that a trade will happen with Dallas. Donnie Nelson has made it pretty clear this summer that unless he is offered a “home run deal” he’s not making any moves. Getting Kirilenko would be a solid move, but unless we found a way to not include Terry, Howard, Harris, or Dirk I’d hardly consider getting AK47 a home run.

I’ll have more as the story develops.