The NBA trade deadline may be in February, but the Brooklyn Nets are considering trading the veteran small forward Andrei Kirilenko. However, an unexpected issue could derail this trade altogether.
That's because Kirilenko, 33, is attending to a family matter in New York. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, this would make a trade impractical for the foreseeable future.
"Andrei has all the power now," an NBA executive told Yahoo Sports. "He can say he likes the situation enough to play or not to play."
The NBA teams most interested in the former All-Star's trade include the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. The Philadelphia 76ers expressed interest in Kirilenko, but league sources told Yahoo Sports that the team wanted too much draft compensation in exchange for the small forward, which made a trade deal less likely.
According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post, the Russian forward hasn't played on the court since Nov. 13 and has been away from the team since Nov. 21, when the Nets played the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kirilenko noted that his absence was not due to professional reasons, but instead was a family matter in regards to his wife, Masha "Marina" Lopatova.
"Sometimes our personal life is more than our basketball life," Kirilenko said. "This is one of those situations that requires a lot of my time home. Which we reached an agreement with the Nets: Sometimes I'll be helping my wife."
However, Kirilenko has expressed that he wants to get back on the court as soon as he can resolve his family situation.
"Of course you want to play. In current situation with my family is kind of preventing me from spending a lot of time here," Kirilenko said. "I'm required to be home, so it's just a little bit difficult from this perspective. ... The deadline is the beginning of February. Until that time, I'm going to be kind of busy."
According to Wojnarowski, the Nets have been working to find a team that will take on the remainder of his $3.3 million deal for the 2014-15 season. However, Kirilenko has been unable to find a spot in Nets coach Lionel Hollins' rotation, has only logged 36 minutes this season, and his family matter could delay any trade talks until January or February.
"[Will he] be in the rotation at some point? I don't know," Hollins said. "We'll find out as we go forward."
Hollins added that there are no hard feelings between him and Kirilenko, noting that there will be a spot for the forward when the family situation is resolved.
"When you come back, you come back in the mix and we go forward," Hollins said. "Nobody is upset, nobody feels anything. It's like somebody being hurt or sick, no difference."
According to Yahoo Sports, Kirilenko was an All-Start for the Utah Jazz in 2004 and made the first-team All-NBA Defensive team in 2006. Besides having a stellar international basketball career, he has played in 12 NBA seasons with the Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and Nets.
