ESPN’s Chad Ford reports Nenad Krstic will return to the NBA and join the Thunder
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Krstic was having a breakout year in 2006 before an awful ACL injury sidelined him. In 26 games that year, he averaged 16.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. He’s just 25 years old and is a solid seven-footer that OKC desperately needs. It’s hard to say if he’s really a good solution to the current problem, but his presence sure won’t hurt. Right now, OKC is getting little to no production from the frontcourt. Having Krstic should open up more mid-range looks for Kevin Durant and Jeff Green and give Russell Westbrook a reliable post-scorer to pass to on dribble drives.
If Krstic is completely healthy and can return to his 2006 form, this is a solid pickup. But if he’s unproductive and not fully-recovered, this could be a major setback dishing out $15 million to someone that’s going to give you as much production as the guys you’ve already got. This piles up more OKC big men, which suggests that someone out of Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Nick Collison or Chris Wilcox will likely be moved.