Andrei Kirilenko has always been a bit of an odd case. He is 6-9 and Kate Moss thin, but has exhibited the ability over his career to be a good rebounder from the 4 spot as well as possessing elite level shot blocking ability. The problem obviously, is that Kirilenko has the size of a SF and the game of a PF. This did not really present much of a problem early in Kirilenko's Jazz tenure, as there was no threat to his playing time at the 4 spot. Times have changed in Salt Lake however, and the Jazz are suddenly full up on (healthy) PFs. Between Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Paul Milsap, Kirilenko would seem to have little shot to return the the 4 spot anytime soon for the Jazz. This puts the Jazz in the position of having their highest paid player (Yup, Kirilenko makes more than Boozer) playing out of position and experiencing an extreme decline in performance. As Kirilenko himself has said, this season has been "the worst season in my career, individually". To compare:
2005: MPG:32.9 PPG:15.6 RPG:6.2 AST:3.2 BLK:3.3 STL:1.6
2006: MPG:37.8 PPG:15.3 RPG:8.0 AST:4.3 BLK:3.2 STL:1.5
2007: MPG:29.3 PPG:8.3 RPG:4.7 AST:2.9 BLK:2.1 STL:1.1
Kirilenko is caught in a tough spot. The emergence of Boozer as a premier offensive threat combined with the increased tendency by Deron Williams to take his own shots just does not leave many shots left over for Kirilenko in Jerry Sloan's deliberate offense. I mean, imagine if Shawn Marion with his similar size and skill set were in the Jazz rotation. It probably would not be a much rosier picture. The alarming thing about the Kirilenko situation however, is that he seems to be growing increasingly unhappy with his situation in Utah. Compare his comments from an interview last week in the Salt Lake Tribune with a quote from last night:
"Right now, I'm kind of relaxed, and I made my point. . . . I've re-changed my mind a little bit, adjusted a little bit to different things right now. Especially, we've made the playoffs and right now we have tough stretch to get back [home-court advantage] and I don't like to be negative. I want to be positive." (4-15-07)
"I want to play 48 minutes,I want to play and I want to be on the court. All I can provide is effort, no matter how many minutes I'm going to play. . . . I wouldn't say I did great, but I did something. It's just hard to explain because it's been whole year." (4-22-07)
Kirilenko was primarily reacting to the quick hook he got from Jerry Sloan after he went 1-3 from the field and 0-2 from the foul line. Sloan's reaction to Kirilenko's comments was equally ominous:
"I know it's very uncomfortable for him. It's very uncomfortable for me, I'm not happy with it, but I don't know how to handle it. I'm not equipped."
Jerry Sloan is "not equipped" to handle this situation? Yikes. If you have a coach that has been around for 22 seasons saying he can't handle a situation, and your highest payed player is literally in tears after a playoff game, you are in what most people would call a bad situation. And the situation is not going to get any better for Kirilenko. The Jazz have Boozer and Okur under contract for the next three years and Milsap for the next two, and Matt Harpring who has been playing almost an equal amount of minutes at SF as Kirilenko is also signed for the next three years. Kirilenko is under contract for the next four years on a max deal that will be paying him $17,822,187 by the 2010-2011 season. Not many teams would want to pay a guy playing out of position and averaging 8-5-3 $17 million, so it seems that the Jazz are going to have to find something to do with AK-47. This past season has likely sent Kirilenko's stock through the floor, so finding a taker to absorb the four years left on his contract will most likely not be an easy task. The Jazz may well find themselves saddled with a $63 million salary cap albatross for the next four seasons.
Update: Kirilenko had another poor showing in Game 2 of the series tonight, only playing 18 minutes while being called for 5 fouls. Andrei's final stat line: 0 PTS, 0 AST, 3 REB, 0 STL, 2 BLK, 2 TO, 0-3 FGM-FGA
