Intrigue in Istanbul: D-Will, AK-47 Heading To Moscow...Together!?

We really don't know what's going on in Istanbul. It's a long way away and there are language barriers. But let's just say there's intrigue in the city that's been known for it over the centuries and it relates to the Nets, not Cold War spies.

Billy King is there to scout the Euroleague Final Four ... and meet with Bojan Bogdanovic. Deron Williams and his wife, Amy, are there too on "vacation" and will be rooting for Besiktas in the Turkish League playoffs. Andrei Kirilenko is playing there. His wife, Masha, is blogging there.

With the Williamses and Billy King tweeting their arrivals Thursday (and staying at the same five-star hotel), that should have been enough intrigue. But let's add this line from Masha Kirilenko's Friday blog entry, as translated: "Met with the Williams family. With Deron and Amy. You know, he played here during the lockout. And now he's come on vacation to visit and cheer for Andrei in the Euroleague. And then together we fly to Moscow." WHAT? MOSCOW! WHOSE PLANE? Is this a tease? Is something lost in translation??

Meanwhile, at his Euroleague press conference, Andrei Kirilenko said his top priority in the NBA is the Jazz. You figure it out!

• The Cultural Progress of Consiousness (Google Translate) - Masha Kirilenko - Sports Tribune
• Basketball-CSKA's Kirilenko happy to swap NBA for Euroleague - Zoran Milosavljevic - Reuters
• EUROLEAGUE - Players dreaming of Olympic glory on show at Final Four - FIBA