smackeddog wrote:

Jmpasq wrote:This contract smells funny. He turned down 1 year 10 million to sign a 3 year LLE deal with the Nets worth the same amount. They are circumventing the cap

Actually, reports now seem to be saying its a 2 year contract. So he gave up $10mil over 1 season, for $6mil over 2 seasons. Hmmm....

gunsnewing wrote:Again the difference is the vets are joining a young core unlike the last 2 lakers team to do it. Boston also did it and they had rondo

Rondo wasn't Rondo yet in 2007-2008. He actually was the weak link in that championship squad and more of a caddy than anything in 2008.

Only this time, the rest of the NBA believes the Nets have gone too far, delivering the league into an unfiltered rage. The signing of Russian free agent Andrei Kirilenko – a $10 million-a-year player last season – for Brooklyn's $3.1 mini-midlevel exception has transformed rival owners and front office executives into an angry mob of disbelievers.

The insinuations are unmistakable: Around the NBA, there are calls for the commissioner's office to investigate the possibilities of side deals and Russian rubles ruling the day – for now, unfounded charges based on circumstance and appearances.

Within the NBA, there had long been those promising that deals would start popping up involving Prokhorov that made no fiscal sense, theorizing that high-end players could take less within the constraints of the salary cap and still make up the difference in clandestine pacts.

Once the Russian billionaire convinced a superb Russian player to take $7 million less to be a backup to Pierce, the rest of the NBA's reaction was instant and uproarious. For the first time now, the Nets have truly arrived as a contending franchise. They're good, with a chance to be great, and the rest of the NBA wants an investigation.

"Brazen," one Western Conference GM told Yahoo! Sports.

Mikhail Prokhorov has shown little concern for the NBA's hefty luxury-tax penalties. (USA Today Sports)"Let's see if the league has any credibility," one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. "It's not about stopping it. It's about punishing them if they're doing it."

Another Eastern Conference GM: "There should be a probe. How obvious is it?"

The telephone calls and text messages kept coming on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the reason was simple: Few trust Prokhorov to honor the NBA's salary-cap rules and regulations. He made his $15 billion fortune in the wild 1990s in Russia in what he called, "cowboy territory with no sheriff." Bribes were part of the business culture, and Prokhorov confessed to his part in it.

It is easy to make the accusations, but harder to prove that Prokhorov and his management did anything but a solid sales job after the free-agent market had dried up on Kirilenko. When it comes to uninhibited spending and free-agent coups, the modern NBA has a long list of targets. Understand something else, too: Plenty of American-born owners, running respected franchises, have come under these suspicions, too. Charges of side deals didn't start with Prokhorov and won't end with him.

Nevertheless, this is the second time there's been questions about the Nets' signing of a foreign free agent below market value.

A year ago, Brooklyn agreed on a full midlevel-exception deal with Euro forward Mirza Teletovic on a three-year, $15.7 million contract. Shortly after the agreement, Brooklyn realized it needed to alter the exception slot to still keep open the chance for cutting a trade for Dwight Howard. Without re-entering the market, Teletovic accepted a three-year, $9 million deal at the mini midlevel.

Part of all this is the mystery surrounding Prokhorov, the distrust that comes with how he amassed his fortune, and his bold predictions of an NBA title within five years of purchasing the franchise.

When the Boston Celtics made the Kevin Garnett deal to make themselves championship contenders, everyone accused Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale of preferential treatment of the Celtics and their general manager, Danny Ainge, in the deal. When Pat Riley brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh together for discounts on max contracts, there were cries of collusion.

Nets officials will privately tell you they understand these suspicions were inevitable – even if they believe the suspicions are misguided and misinformed. Nevertheless, Kirilenko has long been a target of Prokhorov, the highest-profile Russian star in the NBA and forever an object of the owner's desire. The Nets were discussing deals to back up Pierce with the pedestrian Alan Anderson until discussions with Kirilenko became more serious in the past several days.

Kirilenko wanted a three-year deal with a minimum of $8 million per season, front-office executives said. Several teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, pursued Kirilenko with sign-and-trade discussions with Minnesota only nothing could get done. Kirilenko has history with Deron Williams, the Nets star. They played together for five years in Utah. Most of all, Kirilenko has history with Prokhorov. The billionaire owned CSKA Moscow, and Kirilenko played for him there, too.

The Nets pursued Kyle Korver with its $3.1 million exception to start free agency, but he re-signed with Atlanta. Eventually, Kirilenko and the Nets were left shopping, and a deal was consummated on Thursday.

Brooklyn gets a strong, athletic defender to pursue James and Dwyane Wade in the playoffs, one more willing passer and scorer. For the Nets, too, they get the scorn of the sport now. Everyone can suggest it was easy to construct this roster with no financial limitations, but, rest assured, everyone couldn't have done what Prokhorov and King have done with these Nets – whatever everyone thinks. Brooklyn has arrived with suspicions and charges and jealousies, arrived in unmistakable and unprecedented noise. Here are the Nets now: From Russia, with loathe.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Kirilenko joins Brooklyn Nets
• Billups returns to Pistons on two-year deal
• Lakers finally amnesty Metta World Peace

StarksEwing1 wrote:Gotta give the nets credit they are going for it but the right way. last year the knicks went or it by giving up assets for Marcus Cambus and the mid level for kidd which obviously was a disaster. The nets gave up a lot but they have 2 HOF winners to help them plus they got Kirilenko for 3 million after he opted out of 10 million

CrushAlot wrote:Apparently most of the NBA thinks there are some shenanigans going on. Woj:

Only this time, the rest of the NBA believes the Nets have gone too far, delivering the league into an unfiltered rage. The signing of Russian free agent Andrei Kirilenko – a $10 million-a-year player last season – for Brooklyn's $3.1 mini-midlevel exception has transformed rival owners and front office executives into an angry mob of disbelievers.

The insinuations are unmistakable: Around the NBA, there are calls for the commissioner's office to investigate the possibilities of side deals and Russian rubles ruling the day – for now, unfounded charges based on circumstance and appearances.

Within the NBA, there had long been those promising that deals would start popping up involving Prokhorov that made no fiscal sense, theorizing that high-end players could take less within the constraints of the salary cap and still make up the difference in clandestine pacts.

Once the Russian billionaire convinced a superb Russian player to take $7 million less to be a backup to Pierce, the rest of the NBA's reaction was instant and uproarious. For the first time now, the Nets have truly arrived as a contending franchise. They're good, with a chance to be great, and the rest of the NBA wants an investigation.

"Brazen," one Western Conference GM told Yahoo! Sports.

Mikhail Prokhorov has shown little concern for the NBA's hefty luxury-tax penalties. (USA Today Sports)"Let's see if the league has any credibility," one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. "It's not about stopping it. It's about punishing them if they're doing it."

Another Eastern Conference GM: "There should be a probe. How obvious is it?"

The telephone calls and text messages kept coming on Thursday night and Friday morning, and the reason was simple: Few trust Prokhorov to honor the NBA's salary-cap rules and regulations. He made his $15 billion fortune in the wild 1990s in Russia in what he called, "cowboy territory with no sheriff." Bribes were part of the business culture, and Prokhorov confessed to his part in it.

It is easy to make the accusations, but harder to prove that Prokhorov and his management did anything but a solid sales job after the free-agent market had dried up on Kirilenko. When it comes to uninhibited spending and free-agent coups, the modern NBA has a long list of targets. Understand something else, too: Plenty of American-born owners, running respected franchises, have come under these suspicions, too. Charges of side deals didn't start with Prokhorov and won't end with him.

Nevertheless, this is the second time there's been questions about the Nets' signing of a foreign free agent below market value.

A year ago, Brooklyn agreed on a full midlevel-exception deal with Euro forward Mirza Teletovic on a three-year, $15.7 million contract. Shortly after the agreement, Brooklyn realized it needed to alter the exception slot to still keep open the chance for cutting a trade for Dwight Howard. Without re-entering the market, Teletovic accepted a three-year, $9 million deal at the mini midlevel.

Part of all this is the mystery surrounding Prokhorov, the distrust that comes with how he amassed his fortune, and his bold predictions of an NBA title within five years of purchasing the franchise.

When the Boston Celtics made the Kevin Garnett deal to make themselves championship contenders, everyone accused Minnesota Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale of preferential treatment of the Celtics and their general manager, Danny Ainge, in the deal. When Pat Riley brought LeBron James and Chris Bosh together for discounts on max contracts, there were cries of collusion.

Nets officials will privately tell you they understand these suspicions were inevitable – even if they believe the suspicions are misguided and misinformed. Nevertheless, Kirilenko has long been a target of Prokhorov, the highest-profile Russian star in the NBA and forever an object of the owner's desire. The Nets were discussing deals to back up Pierce with the pedestrian Alan Anderson until discussions with Kirilenko became more serious in the past several days.

Kirilenko wanted a three-year deal with a minimum of $8 million per season, front-office executives said. Several teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, pursued Kirilenko with sign-and-trade discussions with Minnesota only nothing could get done. Kirilenko has history with Deron Williams, the Nets star. They played together for five years in Utah. Most of all, Kirilenko has history with Prokhorov. The billionaire owned CSKA Moscow, and Kirilenko played for him there, too.

The Nets pursued Kyle Korver with its $3.1 million exception to start free agency, but he re-signed with Atlanta. Eventually, Kirilenko and the Nets were left shopping, and a deal was consummated on Thursday.

Brooklyn gets a strong, athletic defender to pursue James and Dwyane Wade in the playoffs, one more willing passer and scorer. For the Nets, too, they get the scorn of the sport now. Everyone can suggest it was easy to construct this roster with no financial limitations, but, rest assured, everyone couldn't have done what Prokhorov and King have done with these Nets – whatever everyone thinks. Brooklyn has arrived with suspicions and charges and jealousies, arrived in unmistakable and unprecedented noise. Here are the Nets now: From Russia, with loathe.

Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
• Kirilenko joins Brooklyn Nets
• Billups returns to Pistons on two-year deal
• Lakers finally amnesty Metta World Peace

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--nets--deal-with-andrei-kirilenko-raises-suspicions-from-nba-rivals-180604173.html

Yea, because we all know in the United States of America it is guilt until proven innocent right?

If you think this story is anything more than a thinly veiled jealous jab at an owner who is hell bent on winning then look no further than this. If the Nets were offering so much money in back office dealings then how in the world could they not get some of the other free agents they were pursuing? The most recent of which is Kyle Korver (or Bojan Bogdanovic cant remember which came first).

The only reason Kirilenko gave up more money to come to Brooklyn is he wanted a decent shot at a championship and he wanted to do it without looking like a coattail hanger, like Ray Allen. That's the same reason he didnt sign with the Nets and instead signed with Minnesota last year. He thought they would have a decent shot, that was before all the injuries.

Its not like players have never left money on the table to go play with a better team before.

This guy has made over 100million dollars in the NBA and has not tasted a chip. I thought if SAS got him it would be a hell of a signing but they were trying to do a sign and trade.

Stockton and Malone each owned car dealerships with Larry Miller in Utah. Could they have enjoyed a favorable equity relationship in that joint venture and circumvented the system back then? NBA was not as cap restrictive back then but one has to wonder?

Ray allen, and each of the Miami superfriends took haircuts to play so its not unheard of. Maybe Aronson (miami owner) put 10 mil each in offshore accounts for them? Maybe this is common practice that is never discussed.

IN the long run the Prokhorov was wanting to market the team to Russia and with AK on board, and if they win AK does raise his profile and brand quite a lot which would increase his branding value for endorsements quite a lot!

Anything is possible!

loweyecue wrote:Lots of players take less to play for contenders. But because this guy is Russian as is the owner immediately we have the trolls blasting conspiracy theories. Kirilenko should be praised for not taking the max he could get to play for Suckysota and for actually doing what we want players to do. Get a life people.

dk7th wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

loweyecue wrote:Lots of players take less to play for contenders. But because this guy is Russian as is the owner immediately we have the trolls blasting conspiracy theories. Kirilenko should be praised for not taking the max he could get to play for Suckysota and for actually doing what we want players to do. Get a life people.

Wojo is a troll now?

how do you get troll from this article?

It's xenophobia at it's finest. What evidence has he provided of anything???? All he did was speculate and make a case based on people calling the commissioner's office? I am sorry just because it fits your world view doesn't make it a credible article. I am tired of media convicting people of imaginary crimes to extract its pound of sensationalism.

It was reported that Dolan would offer Lebron his own channel on Cablevision - who was jumping up and down to investigate that?