Nets' Krstic to Russia? New Jersey Continues Offseason Overhaul

When Rod Thorn hired Kiki Vandeweghe to be the New Jersey Nets' latest general manager, he had one goal in mind. He wanted to bring the Nets out of basketball purgatory.

Basketball purgatory is the worst place for an NBA franchise to be. It's that dreaded place where you're not quite good enough to be a legitimate title contender, but you're not bad enough to get the high lottery picks often needed to change a team's fortunes.

Even though they made the playoffs every season from 2001-2007, they did not advance past the conference semifinals since 2002-2003. The last few seasons, the "Big Three" of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson failed to win much. With late draft picks each year, the Nets couldn't add enough pieces to their roster, and they were trending downwards. 

However, one pick did work out for the Nets. Nenad Krstic spent a year in Serbia, and then he came over and was quickly being considered a part of a new "Big Four" in New Jersey. A torn ACL on December 22, 2006 ruined his career with the Nets as he couldn't regain his pre-injury form. Before his injury, he was averaging 16.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

Now, Krstic is one of just four current Nets who were also on last year's opening day roster. The other three, Vince Carter, Josh Boone, and Sean Williams, are all being involved in various trade rumors. Carter might need to go before the vaunted 2010 offseason while the Nets might not think Boone has a huge upside or that Williams will ever put it all together.

Krstic is about to be the first to go. According to various reports, the young center will sign a two year, 5.78 million (Euros) deal from a team in Russia. The deal would have an opt-out clause, so he could potentially return to the NBA in a year. If he were to exercise that, he would then become a restricted free agent under Nets' control.

The Nets have until midnight tonight (July 28) to either agree to a deal with "Curly" or to sign-and-trade him. All indications so far is that he will take the deal in Russia, joining former Net Bostjan Nachbar, Josh Childress, Carlos Delfino, and Jorge Garbajosa in the latest trend of basketball players going overseas to get their paydays.

With the offseason additions of Brook Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Yi Jianlian, and Eduardo Najera to go with Williams, Boone, and Stromile Swift, the Nets have an over abundance of big men, without a whole lot of minutes available for Krstic.

Even if Krstic leaves, rumors and the roster makeup indicate that the Nets are not done. Williams and Boone are pretty attractive prospects to throw in a trade, and the Nets are probably interested in getting another wing player.

No matter what, do not count out Vandeweghe when it comes to making a move. He's committed to making the Nets as good as possible in 2010. They weren't going to be contenders before he blew up the roster, and they aren't going to be one now. But at least now, there is a plan in place for the future with or without LeBron James.