By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Andrei Kirilenko finally returned to the league where he felt that he belonged. The Euroleague 2011-12 MVP will play for Minnesota Timberwolves the next two season as it was officially announced, just before the beginning of the Olympics’ opening ceremony.
Kirilenko had a stellar season in the old continent winning the VTB League and the Russian championship. He was the best player of CSKA Moscow averaging 14.1 points on .598 shooting (.417 from three), to go along with 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.9 blocks in 17 Euroleague games. He was also named 2012 Euroleague Best Defender and his only failure was the loss at the thrilling Euroleague final against Olympiacos.
As he has said in his Eurohoops.net interview he feels that he has some good years of NBA caliber game left in his career. However, multiple sources from Russia informed Eurohoops at the 8th of July that he had decided to stay one more season in CSKA Moscow. That was before the offer from Minnesota, which changed everything. According to reports Kirilenko will get 20 million dollars for a two year contract, but before he leaves, he has something to say about European basketball. Just see the video….