Are Nets Closing In On Kirilenko? Well, They Are "Monitoring" Him

Wendell Maxey, who covered the Nets for HoopsWorld and now writes on international basketball, says Andrei Kirilenko has verbally agreed to a three-year deal with the Nets, tweeting that he "AK to brooklyn nets deal in place. plans to sign 3-year after euroleague." But Stefan Bondy tweets in response, "Multiple sources say report of verbal agreement between Nets and Kirilenko on a 3-year deal is not accurate."

But as Tim Bontemps reports, Billy King will be in Istanbul next week to meet Bogdan Bogdanovic ... and scout the Euroleague Final Four. So will Kirilenko. His CSKA Moscow is favored to win the European title. Bontemps notes that while Net officials deny there's a deal, they don't deny they have "monitored Kirilenko's play this season."

The Nets were talking with Kirilenko, 31, prior to the season but once Brook Lopez went down, King switched gears and instead used his cap space to acquire Mehmet Okur, who later went down with a season-ending back injury. Kirilenko recently said he wants to return to the NBA and said positive things about Mikhail Prokhorov who he supported in the Russian presidential election. There's not word yet from him on the report.

• Kirilenko has deal in place with Nets if he decides not to return to CSKA - Wendell Maxey - Crossover Chronicles
• Nets monitoring Kirilenko, but no verbal agreement: source - Tim Bontemps - New York Post Nets Blog
• Nets not signing Andrei Kirilenko - Alex Raskin - HoopsWorld
• Report: Andrei Kirilenko returns NBA with Nets next season - Kurt Helin - NBC Sports
• Kirilenko to join Prokhorov in NBA - Russia Today