Yahoo: Spurs' talks for Andrei Kirilenko end without deal

[TheGoldStandard]

WoW, Spurs blew Kirilenko for Pendergraph. Congrats.

Because the new guy was real high on him... lol at this guy sitting on the bench

[ace3g]

Jared Dudley @JaredDudley619
Another Russian AK47 for the NBA opted out of a 10 million dollar contract to sign a contact with the Nets for 3 million?!!!' #nocomment

[Sean Cagney]

Jared Dudley @JaredDudley619
Another Russian AK47 for the NBA opted out of a 10 million dollar contract to sign a contact with the Nets for 3 million?!!!' #nocomment

Yep, something was definitely up there! He was never coming to SA, his intention all along was probably to sign there so Spurs fans should not feel bad about it anymore. He took way less to go where he wanted to go.

[mountainballer]

the fact that one side worked hard to get a deal done does not mean the other side was ever interested.
it's like that bar situation. and the Spurs are NOT playing the role of the hot chick in that scene.

[bluebellmaniac]

$3M??? Something pretty shady about that deal... Russian billionaire owner.... yeah, there's no shadyness going on in mother Russia... Billionaires over there don't get thrown out windows or have their empires handed to someone else if they critique Putin... Sounds like AK was made an offer he couldn't refuse... I assume he has family in Russia...

God help him if he has a horrible year...

[coyotes_geek]

WoW, Spurs blew Kirilenko for Pendergraph. Congrats.

They assumed they would have the MLE to use on other players because AK was telling them he wanted way more than MLE money. Seems pretty silly to hold it against the Spurs for not having the clairovoyance to forsee that a guy who just opted out of a $10 mil contract would agree to one for $3. Had they known it was going to go that way, they'd probably have done something different.

Besides, even if you want to take this line of thinking, the Spurs would have blown Kirilenko for Belinelli, not Pendergraph. Pendergraphs deal would have left enough MLE to give AK the $3.1 he took from Brooklyn. Belinelli's wouldn't have.

[K-State Spur]

WoW, Spurs blew Kirilenko for Pendergraph. Congrats.

So, if the Spurs don't sign Pendergraph, AK47 was coming here - no doubt?

Even if he wanted to play here over New York (which has not been established), that the Spurs could have offered more than the total package of what he's getting from Prokhorov is highly unlikely.

[Mel_13]

So how much cash was delivered to AK's relatives in Russia?

[Bruno]

They assumed they would have the MLE to use on other players because AK was telling them he wanted way more than MLE money. Seems pretty silly to hold it against the Spurs for not having the clairovoyance to forsee that a guy who just opted out of a $10 mil contract would agree to one for $3. Had they known it was going to go that way, they'd probably have done something different.

Besides, even if you want to take this line of thinking, the Spurs would have blown Kirilenko for Belinelli, not Pendergraph. Pendergraphs deal would have left enough MLE to give AK the $3.1 he took from Brooklyn. Belinelli's wouldn't have.

Spurs could have try to sign Kirilenko with cap space and Belinelli with the room exception. They would have been able to offer him a starting salary of $6.2M and maybe even $7.2M with a De Colo salary dump.

[ducks]

spurs did not have sam
having him they might have gotten it done
he was very creative

[coyotes_geek]

Spurs could have try to sign Kirilenko with cap space and Belinelli with the room exception. They would have been able to offer him a starting salary of $6.2M and maybe even $7.2M with a De Colo salary dump.

Reports had AK asking the Spurs for $8-$9. For all we know the Spurs offered to do exactly what you suggested and he said no.

[T Park]

Spurs could have try to sign Kirilenko with cap space and Belinelli with the room exception. They would have been able to offer him a starting salary of $6.2M and maybe even $7.2M with a De Colo salary dump.

Why do people continue to assume he would've signed here for that much?

He wanted to play for his Russian buddy and he's gonna make more than 3 million. That simple.

[cd98]

They assumed they would have the MLE to use on other players because AK was telling them he wanted way more than MLE money. Seems pretty silly to hold it against the Spurs for not having the clairovoyance to forsee that a guy who just opted out of a $10 mil contract would agree to one for $3. Had they known it was going to go that way, they'd probably have done something different.

Besides, even if you want to take this line of thinking, the Spurs would have blown Kirilenko for Belinelli, not Pendergraph. Pendergraphs deal would have left enough MLE to give AK the $3.1 he took from Brooklyn. Belinelli's wouldn't have.

But if the Spurs had not signed Belinelli, they could have signed Kirilenko and Pendergraph and then resigned Neal. I'd like that scenario better than Belinelli and Pendergraph. Both those deals may eventually work out well for the Spurs, but I'd be concerned about the Spurs lack of depth in the SF position going forward. Why can't the Spurs ever get a 6'8 guy that can play the 3 or the 4?

[coyotes_geek]

Why do people continue to assume he would've signed here for that much?

He wanted to play for his Russian buddy and he's gonna make more than 3 million. That simple.

Pretty much. The Spurs and Twolves couldn't work out a deal to get AK to SA for the $8-$9 he was looking for, so he signs with his buddy on the cheap for a deal that gives him the opportunity to try his luck in free agency again next year.

[Bruno]

Reports had AK asking the Spurs for $8-$9. For all we know the Spurs offered to do exactly what you suggested and he said no.

A player can say no early during the free agency and then say yes when he see the market for him drying. Spurs reached an agreement with Pendergraph on July 6th. If it was a given that it would sign for more than the min, they definitively close the door to sign a player for $6M or $7M per year. That's awfully soon in the free agency period to do so.

[Bruno]

Why do people continue to assume he would've signed here for that much?

He wanted to play for his Russian buddy and he's gonna make more than 3 million. That simple.

Why do you assume he wouldn't and that he picked being paid less than the half of what Spurs could have offered just to have a Russian owner.

You're making a way bigger reach than me. That simple.

[coyotes_geek]

A player can say no early during the free agency and then say yes when he see the market for him drying. Spurs reached an agreement with Pendergraph on July 6th. If it was a given that it would sign for more than the min, they definitively close the door to sign a player for $6M or $7M per year. That's awfully soon in the free agency period to do so.

So while they're waiting for AK to decide he has to settle for less, Belinelli signs in Cleveland and the Spurs are still at risk of AK finding someone who can offer more money than they can.

[Bruno]

So while they're waiting for AK to decide he has to settle for less, Belinelli signs in Cleveland and the Spurs are still at risk of AK finding someone who can offer more money than they can.

Belinelli could have very likely been signed with the room exception. Reports are he got $5.6M/2 years and the room exception is $5.42M/2 years. By playing on the salary payment schedule, Spurs could easily have offset the $180K difference.

[cd98]

So while they're waiting for AK to decide he has to settle for less, Belinelli signs in Cleveland and the Spurs are still at risk of AK finding someone who can offer more money than they can.

Statistically Belinelli and Neal aren't that different. You try and get AK and put off Belinelli because you know you have bird rights and can resign Neal if you need to. Neal isn't signed yet, so him getting an outrageous deal is something I don't think is in the cards. But who knows if Kirilenko wanted to play in S.A. I will say that we have a good reputation of giving non-American born players a chance to play, but his reputation is established in this league. He would be a welcome addition to any team assuming the price was right.

[coyotes_geek]

Belinelli could have very likely been signed with the room exception. Reports are he got $5.6M/2 years and the room exception is $5.42M/2 years. By playing on the salary payment schedule, Spurs could easily have offset the $180K difference.

Sure, he could have. He also could have gotten an even bigger offer from Cleveland while the Spurs were busy trying to orchestrate a dozen different roster moves needed to clear the cap space.

[T Park]

Why do you assume he wouldn't and that he picked being paid less than the half of what Spurs could have offered just to have a Russian owner.

You're making a way bigger reach than me. That simple.

If you think he's making only 3 million this year, I've got some beautiful ocean front condos to sell you in Montana.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Reports had AK asking the Spurs for $8-$9. For all we know the Spurs offered to do exactly what you suggested and he said no.

Flip said no, that was the deal killer.

[coyotes_geek]

Statistically Belinelli and Neal aren't that different. You try and get AK and put off Belinelli because you know you have bird rights and can resign Neal if you need to. Neal isn't signed yet, so him getting an outrageous deal is something I don't think is in the cards. But who knows if Kirilenko wanted to play in S.A. I will say that we have a good reputation of giving non-American born players a chance to play, but his reputation is established in this league. He would be a welcome addition to any team assuming the price was right.

So what happens if Neal signs an offer sheet before you've come to an agreement with AK about how much his contract is going to be and lined up all the salary dump trades (because there were going to need to be more than one if the Spurs were going to get close to his asking price)?

More importantly, if you want to keep rights to Neal, you can't renounce him thus reducing the amount of cap space you can use on AK by $1.1 mil.

[ducks]

there was reports out neal was getting $ then spurs were willing to match and signed belinelli

[Bruno]

Sure, he could have. He also could have gotten an even bigger offer from Cleveland while the Spurs were busy trying to orchestrate a dozen different roster moves needed to clear the cap space.

You had to admit that is kinda unlikely that $180K would have made a difference.

And it took one minutes to Spurs to create $6.2M in cap space.