NBA Rumors: Nets Should Not Waste Time Targeting Andrei Kirilenko

The New Jersey Nets need to focus their attention on one player and one player only, and that's Dwight Howard.

Roster flexibility and cap room are going to be key for the Nets, who are apparently Howard's favorite trade request destination, so doing anything to make that possible transaction harder would be folly on the their parts.

The Nets would obviously want to sign-and-trade for Howard, as trading for him only to watch him hit free agency after the season would be pointless.

They also have superstar point guard Deron Williams to worry about, who will also become a free agent after the season.

Obviously acquiring Howard and moving to Brooklyn would be huge incentives for Williams to stay with the team, but they have to have the adequate amount of money for both stars and their supporting cast.

That's why it's so imperative that the Nets don't waste their time with Kirilenko, who is currently playing in Russia.

The Nets obviously have a need for a solid starter at the small forward position, but I don't see Kirilenko being a good fit for a team that can't afford to waste any money.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post is reporting that the Nets apparently feel the same way at the moment:

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Multiple league sources contend the Nets have done “virtually nothing” regarding a pursuit of Kirilenko, who is in Russia where he has battled through a shoulder injury and a broken nose.

Kirilenko, apparently content in his native country, has drawn interest from several Western teams, but there has not been an offer so enticing enough to get him to leave.

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As Kerber stated, Kirilenko has been injured playing over in Russia and he's reportedly content where he is.

The last thing the Nets need is to spend that valuable money signing a player battling with injuries and contentment, especially when the impending free agency stakes are so high.

Kirilenko also only averaged 11.7 points, three assist and 5.1 rebounds in just 64 games last season.

He's on the decline and he's a far cry from the player that averaged 16.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.8 blocks back in 2003-04, which was his best season.

He's just a role player now and even that is on the decline. The Nets shouldn't waste there time here.

They have bigger fish to fry, and that fish's name is Dwight Howard.