After 2 weeks of courtship, proposal, and immigration procedures, Nenad Krstic will dress for the Thunder when they take on the Knicks tonight. We’re all hoping that he will fill one hole on our roster, a legitimate big man. But even as he dons Thunder blue for the first time, several questions remain in the short term. Paramount among them: Who is this guy? Here’s a quick rundown.

No, “Nenad” is not the name for the ambivalent gesture where you simultaneously shake and nod your head. Nenad Krstic (pronounced, we believe, Nay-Nod Cur-Stitch) is a 7-foot 260-lb Center from Serbia who has played 6 professional years of basketball in the NBA and European leagues. He was the 24th overall draft pick in 2002 by the New Jersey Nets but didn’t play for them until the 2004-2005 season. He started to pay immediate dividends for the Nets and was named All-Rookie second team. He also averaged 18.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game in New Jersey’s first round playoff match-up with Miami.

Krstic continued his torrid pace of improvement until the fateful day of December 22, 2006 when he tore his ACL. The remainder of the season was spent in rehab, and Nenad even kept a blog going during his rehab. When he returned for the 07-08 season, however, he just didn’t show the same prowess or athleticism he had before the injury. When his playing time with the Nets was all-but eliminated, he signed a contract before this season with a Russian team. In the NBA, he was still a restricted free agent with the Nets, and that’s why they had the right to match the contract.

So that’s Krstic’s career in a nutshell, but what does that mean for the Thunder? Due to his absence from the league, the largest questions loom around his physical and mental conditioning. He came into the league as a rookie brimming with confidence and ability and continued to move up. But his injury dealt a blow to his psyche. We believe he has the ability, but the larger question is does he believe it? We should also consider the process of not only relocation, but immigration. He will be making many adjustments off the court, not the least of which is a new country.

We agree with Thunder GM Sam Presti here that the Thunder are getting too little nor expecting too much. Presti spoke at the signing press conference about Krstic’s need to get back into basketball shape. The fact that we signed him after only seven games, and he’s apparently not fully in shape, tells me that the Thunder aren’t expecting miracles. Look for him to come into some games off the bench for a few minutes at a time.

So now we have two big men whose careers have been radically shaped by injury, Krstic and Robert Swift. When they are both healthy, Brooks will have another weapon in his arsenal. It doesn’t mean we’re going to start constantly pounding the ball inside, but it’s useful to keep teams honest. The greatest benefit may yet be the freeing up of Collison, Wilcox, and Joe Smith to play in the forward positions where they feel most comfortable and can help on defense rather than be the last line of defense. But mark our words, there will likely be vast stretches of time where only Krstic or Swift is available to play. When this is the case, we’ll be much the same team we are now: scrappy but sub-par.

The most positive byline here is that the Thunder ownership sees room for improvement and wants to improve where it can without sacrificing future position. We can agree we look great in 2 years, but that doesn’t mean this year has to be a race to the bottom. Also on the upside, Krstic is young (25) and has a lot to prove. He may yet turn out to be part of the Thunder’s long-term strategy, but he’s certainly no hindrance in the short term. We credit the Presti and the front office for the “heads up play” of nabbing Krstic off the below-the-radar market for a low-risk, high-return deal.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nenad_Krsti%C4%87