Andrei Kirilenko wants out of Utah. Who can blame him? The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday that Kirilenko told reporters in Mother Russia he has had enough of Jerry Sloan's bullshit and is even ready to walk away from his $63M contract if they don't trade him.
"I am prepared to go without it,'' Kirilenko told the Sport Express newspaper. "This is a lot of money, even for an NBA club. So what. Maybe this money could go to pay for more players or for something else."
If that isn't Communism in its purest form, I don't know what is. Kirilenko does have a pretty legit gripe with Utah considering his production has decreased every year since his All-Star season in 2003-04. The noted swinger has seen a decrease in minutes per game, points per game, and just about every other statistical category and would probably be better off playing somewhere else in the NBA.
If Utah were smart they would try to trade Kirilenko now, while his worth is still high. I crunched some numbers (damn you Collective Bargaining Agreements) and came up with a trade that I could actually see working. The Jazz could trade Kirilenko and forward Paul Milsap to the Lakers for Lamar Odom.
Kirlenko is scheduled to make $13,735,000 in 2007, Milsap $687,456. The Lakers have about had it with Odom and since he is scheduled to make $13,248,596 in 2007, they would actually be saving money because this would take away $1,173,860 from their current payroll of $70,532,242 - which is already $14,902,742 OVER the cap as it is. This is most likely chump change to the Lakers, as I'm sure they can afford to pay the luxury tax in the profits from #24 jerseys alone.
However, I do think this trade would work. Kirilenko would relish the opportunity to play alongside with Kobe Bryant and the Jazz still get a productive forward who can potentially average 20 points a game.
If I were Kirilenko, I'd take the $63 Million, sit my ass on the Utah bench, and think about which supermodel I want to take home to the wife tonight - not bitch about wanting to play with a "spark". But he is a commie - and those bastards sure are unpredictable.
1 comment:
How about instead that Andrei put big numbers up for weak teams, and can't put up big numbers for a play-off contender? That's a more logical conclusion to take from the freefall of his numbers.
Post a Comment