Kirilenko returning to Nets for 2nd year of deal

Andrei Kirilenko will return to the Nets after opting into the final year of his contract, according to his agent.

Kirilenko, 33, was thought to be such a steal when he signed last year for the mini-midlevel exception last year that rival owners called for the league to investigate the Nets. But the Russian forward missed 25 consecutive games because of back spasms and was used sparingly.

He averaged career lows in points (5), rebounds (3.2), steals (0.9) and blocks (0.4) while coming off the bench in 41 of his 45 appearances with Brooklyn.