Newsmakers
Signed The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed free agent Andrei Kirilenko, bringing the versatile forward back to the NBA after a one-season absence. The contract was completed Friday. The 31-year-old Kirilenko is currently playing with the Russian national team at the Summer Olympics in London. He played 10 years for the Utah Jazz, averaging 12.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, but spent the 2011-12 season with the CKSA Moscow club. He won the Most Valuable Player and Best Defender awards in the Euroleague. Kirilenko says he’s eager to play for head coach Rick Adelman and feels his game “fits in well with his style of play.”
• The Chicago Bulls have signed free-agent center Nazr Mohammed. The 14-year NBA veteran played for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. He appeared in 63 games, averaging 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
• The Winnipeg Jets signed defenseman Toby Enstrom to a $28.75-million, five-year contract extension. The 27-year-old Enstrom, who could have become an unrestricted free agent next summer, had six goals and 27 assists in 62 NHL games last season. The Swede is the Atlanta-Winnipeg franchise’s leader among defensemen in games (380), points (204) and assists (172). Enstrom was drafted by the Thrashers in the eighth round in 2003.
Completed The Hornets, Suns and Timberwolves have completed a three-team deal that will send 7-foot center Robin Lopez and forward Hakim Warrick from Phoenix to New Orleans, while moving forward Wesley Johnson and a first-round NBA draft pick from Minnesota to the Suns. The deal sends the contracts of Jerome Dyson and Brad Miller from New Orleans to Phoenix. Minnesota receives three second-round draft picks.
Expected Hornets first-round NBA draft pick Austin Rivers is expected to be ready for the start of training camp after he had surgery to clean up bone spurs in his right ankle. The Duke guard was taken 10th overall. New Orleans said Friday that the injury flared up during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas last week.
Hired The Los Angeles Kings have hired former St. Louis head coach Davis Payne as an assistant to coach Darryl Sutter. St. Louis fired Payne on Nov. 6 after nearly two years behind the bench. Ken Hitchcock took over and led the Blues to the second round of the NHL playoffs, where Los Angeles swept them. Payne will replace Jamie Kompon, who left the Kings for the same job with the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this month. Kompon and John Stevens stayed on in Los Angeles as assistants when Sutter replaced Terry Murray.