Player Watch: Krstic a good building block for Oklahoma City

Nenad Krstic isn't the answer for the Thunder. There are too many holes in Oklahoma City's roster to be plugged by the Serbian center two years removed from a major knee injury.

But he is a start.

If Krstic comes close to being the player that he was with New Jersey before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in December 2006, Oklahoma City has added needed backcourt depth for relatively little. A three-year deal for a reported $16 million isn't much for a franchise with the league's second-lowest payroll and its worst record.

"It's always good to be able to add a player of Nenad's quality," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said Tuesday. "We feel like he's going to be able to help us and make a positive contribution to what we're doing in the short term and long term."

Krstic (7-foot, 213 pounds) has not played in the NBA this season. He instead plied his trade overseas for Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia's Superleague A, averaging 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. The Nets didn't re-sign Krstic after last season, but continued to hold his NBA rights as a restricted free agent. Oklahoma City signed Kristic to an offer sheet last week, and New Jersey elected not to match it by Monday's deadline.

Krstic, the 24th pick of the 2002 Draft, was having a career year with the Nets in 2006-07 (16.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 53 percent shooting) before being hurt. When he returned last season, he hardly resembled the player once billed as the Nets' center of the future.

But Krstic can only help the Thunder's frontline rotation of Nick Collison, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith and Robert Swift. When healthy, Krstic has a solid 18-footer and is effective running the pick-and-roll. And at only 25, he should fit in nicely with the Thunder's young core of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook.

Krstic won't be thrown into the fire right away. The plan is to work him into the fold slowly, and get him on the court when he's comfortable with the system and his new teammates. The team isn't concerned with Krstic's health after a battery of tests last week confirmed the knee is structurally sound.

The deal that brought him to Oklahoma City had a lot of moving parts. Not only did the Thunder sign a free agent to an offer sheet in the middle of the season, the deal was further complicated by Krstic playing in Europe. Oklahoma City negotiated a buyout with the Russian club. (NBA teams can pay up to $500,000 to satisfy a buyout.)

Signing Krstic now keeps him off the open market this summer. And though teams were reluctant to pursue Krstic this past offseason, a healthy big man with a high basketball IQ who's put up his numbers would have been a hot commodity.

"We're no different than any other team in the league," Presti said. "We're always looking for ways to improve, and watch and track players that could be an addition. He's somebody we thought could be a fit for us. We saw an opportunity this season and decided it was something we'd like to purse."

The Nets aren't flush with talent, especially down low, but they're more interested in freeing cap space for 2010. Oklahoma City is in a different financial situation, and signing Krstic illustrates general manager Presti's team-building strategy. With possibly more than $20 million in cap space this summer, the Thunder can get creative when it comes to acquiring players and absorbing contracts.

Krstic, averaging 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in his four NBA seasons, is perhaps the first step in a calculated plan to fill some holes.

Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer (strained quad tendon and bruised knee) is going to come back at some point. He underwent an MRI exam Monday in Los Angeles. The results are pending.

When Boozer returns, Utah coach Jerry Sloan has some lineup buttons to push. Paul Millsap did a bang-up job in Boozer's place before going down with a sprained knee last week. Millsap, a third-year forward out of Louisiana Tech, is expected back soon.

"We've got to find more time for him," Sloan said of Millsap. "I may have to play him at 3, and somebody has got to guard him there. He's able to go out on the floor and guard some guys because he's worked on his defense a great deal. He's guarding some guys this year on the perimeter a lot more, so we'll just figure out what to do."

Millsap (6-foot-8, 258 pounds) is a rugged sort who's used to mixing it up inside. The only player in NCAA history to lead the country in rebounding three times, Millsap was averaging 15 points, nine rebounds and 1.3 blocks (and shooting 56.4 percent) before getting hurt. He also ran off a streak of 15 straight double-doubles.

Sloan wasn't surprised by Millsap's production.

"He came in pretty much ready to play," Sloan said. "He helped us win a lot of games last year. He played pretty well when Boozer struggled or something else was going on. We put him out there and he competed pretty hard."

With his rookie deal expiring after this season, Millsap has a huge payday coming. And with Boozer looking to opt-out of his contract and test free agency again, Millsap may be Utah's permanent solution at power forward.