Love him or hate him, he plays defense, and as a SF next to Randolph and Beidrins/Turiaf we'll have one helluva shotblocking trio on the court at any time. Imagine a lineup of Belli, SJax, Kirilenko, Randolph and Beidrins. I think that team could buckledown and defend for some serious minutes.
He's exactly what the Warriors need, but it depends on which contracts they can force Utah to take back. Nothing is going to happen until Utah determines if Okur and/or Boozer are opting out of their current deals.
We'd have to give up a lot of salaries in order to bring on Kirilenko's. I don't think we have enough to match the incoming salary.
Even though he's only 28, injuries certainly have kept him from reaching what people believed would be his ceiling. Statistically, he's this generation's Cliff Robinson (good ol' Uncle Cliffy), but paid at an elite rate. Sure, he's probably only worth half of his salary, but if we can get rid of players who are worth less than that (the only salaries that work is some combination of Crawford and/or Maggette and/or Jackson), then I'm all for it - plus, his contract only lasts 2 years. I don't think he'll ever get back be to the incredible blocker or rebounder he was at his peak due to his loss of explosiveness from injuries (you can see his slow decline), but he's pretty consistent at all the important things you want from a small forward, especially on the defensive side. I can't see any downside from all the possible deals that we'd work out with Utah if they were interested - I just think they'll hold out for better since Kirilenko has accepted his team role pretty well since his legendary breakdown two years ago.
I love this if we're getting rid of Crawford as the centerpiece of the trade, not so much if we're giving up Maggette. I just don't see how a frontline of Beans/AR/Kirilenko is any better that Beans/Wright/AR. And for all Maggette's flaws, he does bring some very good things to the team, things that no one else can really replacelike getting to the line and hitting FTs. I guess I should just give up on my hope of AR playing SF but then again, we have no guarantee that Kirilenko will play there either. I can easily see him and Randolph splitting time at 4.
You don't have to worry about losing Mags because we have Buike and Jax to play SF when we need scoring. Even AR can play SF. We have plenty of scorers even without Mags, and with his leaving, it will give the youngsters a chance to show what they can do. Check out how the Warriors did with Mags and Monta out towards the end of the season. Their problem wasn't scoring. On top of it, we dump his looooooooong K. This sounds like a great deal for the Warriors.
I agree we need guys who play DEFENSE. We've ignored the problem for way too long. Plus, Kirilenko does other things like pass the ball and drive with the ball. Not the best shooter, but he can make em. I remember when the Jazz had Kirilenko, Borchardt at PF/C, the other team couldn't get anything done inside the paint because it was such a block party. If we did Turiaf, Kirilenko, Randolph in the frontcourt that'd be awesome experiment defensively. We'd just have to pray that our guys are quick enough to get back and rely more on their length to disrupt outside shooters.
A change of scenery might breathe new life into AK. He's only 27. His "decline" may be more to do with being relegated to 4th option than an actual loss of skills. That is, he may be focusing on aspects of his game that contribute to team wins rather than personal glory. He's got the size and all around skills to play PF nicely in a small ball lineup. My guess is that is the Warriors' real interest in him.
I have no doubt that he'd put up better numbers anywhere else than Utah, and that because he's been a team oriented player, he does alot of things that don't show up on the box score, especially with so many other players being the primary options. He does help a team win, and he'd help the Warriors win more games. However, injuries have really hampered his development and hurt him during the season, now for multiple seasons. While he seems young, time is an increasing factor in this. Kirilenko has been playing pro ball since he was 16, playing for Russia in the European/World Championships and Olympics, before even joining the NBA when he was 20. He's well over 20,000 minutes played. I really don't buy that any mental stuff slowed him down at all (aside from that very brief period in the 06 playoffs). The rest has been physical, small injuries nagging him, from his wrist, to his hip, to his ankle. These are not his fault, but they are the causes of him not being able to play explosively during the season and showing us major improvement or growth in the past few seasons. Most players peak at his age, but I believe that he's at his peak now and thus all that's left is down, even if its just gradual.
Well said. The last thing the Warriors need is another injury-prone player, especially an expensive one.
True, but I don't think the length of the contracts are a selling point. They both are owed roughly the same amount, which means Kirilenko is owed a lot more per year than Maggette. It makes obtaining him difficult since it'd mean the Warriors have to offload even more salary than just Maggette's.
I think AK would have been a nice fit at PF for Nellie prior to our acquiring Randolph. Remember Randolph averaged 15.1/10.6/1blk/1.5spg in April. He averaged 10.6/8.5 as a starter over the entire season in about 26 mpg. It just seems like they're too similar a player to have two of plus we still have Wright in the mix. Its hard to project their differences given that AK has been a bench player for a few years and plays with a good rebounding frontline but it appears that Randolph is the better rebounder and shooter. Hes obviously got a lot more potential. Both can handle for their size. AK is the better passer and probably plays better defense. I'd bet that their production at the PF spot would be similar but Randolph's rebounding is huge for us and it seems like a waste to stunt his growth by making him split time with AK. Hes ready to contribute right now. We don't need a stop gap guy.
How about Mike Miller for Mags? Do the Twolves do it? I think an answer could be to find more options like Sjax who can shoot, pass, drive. I figure a team full of these guys ought to do what Nelson wants which is to circulate the ball more and be able to score from anywhere. This type of play can help our inside game when we have shooters who can actually shoot and opt to drive or pass the ball + rebound. The cool thing about Mike Miller is he's not a ball hog. The downside is he's a slightly quicker, but much more athletic version of Dunleavy. He can be soft, inconsistent, and not as aggressive as you hope. The guy has good strength and jump ability and he's 6'8 so his body type doesn't suck that much as Mike Dunleavy Jr's. I mean in theory, shooters who are also passers and ballhandlers ought to create any kind of space they want. They can also deliver the ball inside to guys like Biedrins, Turiaf, Wright, and Randolph. We just need a primary ballhandler besides Ellis. A minute ago I'm saying defense... but y'know Nellie. He'd probably bench Biedrins and AK47 at times because they're too much of the same player at times. (they're defensive guys first and foremost, scorers second) Nelly wants scorers who have guard abilities. No post players, no SF/PF tweeners who aren't primary scoring options.
It seems to me that Utah would like to have some SG's. I think, but cannot recall for certain, that Utah used to pursue Maggette. Maybe we can trade some of our highly paid guards for their highly paid big(s). According to realgm.com's trade checker any pair of Maggette, Crawford, and Jackson for AK47 deal will work.
