Kirilenko has a lot to offer the Nets

Photo credit: Mike King

For years now there has been talk of the potential to bring Andrei Kirilenko to the Nets. Now that talk has become a reality after he agreed to sign with the Nets on July 11th for the mini mid-level exception. This was instantly regarded as a steal by Brooklyn. But what exactly does Kirilenko, who is more known as "AK47," bring to the table?

First off, Kirilenko played for the Utah Jazz from 2001-2011. The Nets' superstar point guard Deron Williams played alongside AK47 from 2005-2011 until Williams got traded to the then New Jersey Nets. Kirilenko's experience playing with Deron Williams gives him some pre-made chemistry with his former, and now new, teammate.

Kirilenko has a lot of ability on the basketball court. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anything he can't do. He's known as a "Swiss army knife" kind of player. Meaning he can do a whole bunch of different things on the court. In Kirilenko, you get another version of a Gerald Wallace-like player. Only Kirilenko is better.

Last season, Kirilenko played extremely well for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and one block per game. He shot 50.7% from the field, but shot just 29.2% from three point. His one knock is that he hasn't played more than 64 games since 2007-2008.

Now that the Nets have this guy named Paul Pierce coming to Brooklyn, Kirilenko will find himself coming off the bench. But he should still get very solid minutes backing up an aging Paul Pierce, who will have his minutes monitored by head coach Jason Kidd. AK47 provides the Nets with a defensive minded backup small forward who could also see minutes at power forward if Coach Kidd decides to play a small lineup.

Kirilenko now joins a bench consisting of Jason Terry, Andray Blatche, Shaun Livingston, Reggie Evans, Mirza Teletovic, Tornike Shengelia, and Tyshawn Taylor. Blatche has already nicknamed this group the "Bench Mob."

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