NBA Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Andrei Kirilenko and Corey Brewer
The NBA rumor mill may dominate headlines in the summer when Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James are deciding their future, but there are subtle, under-the-radar moves to be made in the early season.
Teams are always looking to improve, shed salary or shake up the roster, so it is no wonder that there are some mid-November NBA trade rumors circulating around the Association.
With that in mind, read on to see the latest surrounding Andrei Kirilenko and Corey Brewer.
Andrei Kirilenko
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com passed along an update on Kirilenko’s status with the Brooklyn Nets:
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post added more context to these discussions by noting that Kirilenko took a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons starting with Friday’s contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Rod Boone of Newsday added more on the situation, including a quote from head coach Lionel Hollins:
Kirilenko has only appeared in seven of his team’s first 11 games and played a whopping 36 combined minutes in those contests. He has been a solid contributor throughout his NBA career, so the 2014-15 campaign has been something of step back. But Bontemps did point out that the leave of absence was reportedly not from his lack of playing time.
If the Nets do trade Kirilenko, it would make sense if it came after Dec. 15, since that is when all rookies and players signed over the summer are eligible to be swapped.
From Philadelphia’s perspective, Sergey Karasev likely holds more value than Kirilenko. Karasev is only 21 years old and was a first-round draft pick in 2013. While he has yet to produce at the NBA level, the 76ers are in full-blown rebuild mode and could use more young assets.
At his best, Karasev could be a versatile forward who could stretch the floor with his impressive perimeter shooting ability.
Corey Brewer
Marc Stein of ESPN.com passed along the latest on Brewer of the Minnesota Timberwolves:
It is not surprising that the Houston Rockets or Cleveland Cavaliers would want Brewer given his defensive abilities. In fact, the argument can be made that it is surprising that the Cavaliers are not making a bigger push for Brewer, considering their biggest weakness is on the defensive end.
Perimeter defense is a luxury at the NBA level, and, entering Friday’s game, Brewer was only allowing two defended field goals made per contest (made shots when Brewer is defending the opponent) and held opponents to a two-point field-goal percentage of 8.6 percent lower than their normal two-point field-goal percentage, per NBA.com.
Brewer was also averaging 2.1 steals per game thanks to his length at 6’9” and overall quickness, which helps him dart in and out of passing lanes.
Cleveland was allowing 103.1 points a game before Friday’s contest with the Washington Wizards and could use another small forward to limit LeBron James’ overall minutes before the playoffs.
As for the Rockets, they are much better defensively and check in at third in the NBA in points allowed per game at 92.2, but they do not have a lot of depth behind James Harden and Trevor Ariza at shooting guard and small forward. Harden and Ariza are the top two on the team in terms of minutes per game and could use someone else to bolster the rotation from off the bench.
The Cavaliers could use Brewer’s defense, and the Rockets need more depth. It will be fascinating to see how this process plays out.
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