According to the PA Sports Ticker, Nets free agent Nenad Krstic has decided to head to Europe. Coming off an injury plagued season that limited him to just 6.4 points a game, Krstic and his agent Marc Cornstein were unable to land the former rising star a mid-level contract with an NBA franchise, according to ESPN, which necessitated the move from the NBA.

Now with the Triumph Moscow, Krstic got the kind of money no one would pay him in the NBA at almost nine million a season and will have two years to get his act together before making another possible return to the NBA.

While Krstic is probably enthralled that someone actually thinks he’s worth that kind of money, it’s got to be a bittersweet victory for him. Two seasons ago, Krstic was looking like a future All-Star and someone the Nets could depend on. After a debilitating knee injury however, he was never the same player.

Some Nets fans may have wanted to give him one more go just to make sure, but watching him most of last season, it was obvious; he was done.

The Nets front office can retain his NBA rights by offering him a qualifying offer every season [worth approximately 2.7 million], but as of right now, they’ll just wish him the best in his new endeavors.

“We’ll see what happens but eventually I think he’ll go wherever he can get the best deal,” Rod Thorn told the NY Post on July 30. “For now, this was the best deal for him.”

Add in the arrival of Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Ryan Anderson, in addition to the solid play of Josh Boone last season and the continued development of Sean Williams and it was apparent that the Nets didn’t need the big guy anymore either.

In a solid article written by Jonathan Lehman this week for the Post, it seems that these youngsters are ready to prove they belong as well.

“I don’t know if it’s rebuilding, but the Nets organization as a whole is starting over,” Douglas-Roberts said. “I feel this is a great rookie class, especially for the Nets. We’re the sleeper in the East.”

Now the Nets will have an opportunity to give these youngsters a real opportunity to play, which should make training camp very competitive for the team and intriguing for fans.

Like I mentioned in last week’s post, the Nets bench is much deeper than last season and despite eliminating two of the former big three, this team should still be very competitive. Regardless of what many think, the East is a crap shoot every season and as long as the Nets can hover around .500, they’ll have a shot to get in the playoffs.

I keep hearing all this nonsense about Allan Houston joining the Nets lately.

First I saw something in the Star-Ledger, then I saw something on the Pennsylvania Sports Ticker and now today on Yahoo Sports.

While his chronic knees have probably healed up since he hasn’t played a game in three seasons, is he really worth a guaranteed contract?

I don’t think so.

Even if the Nets manage to sign him for a relatively safe sum, there are still several problems with the former Olympian’s game that need to be addressed however.

Always a defensive liability, even when healthy, Houston’s presence in the Nets lineup won’t be able to help them nearly as much as some hardcore fans think. I mean, it’s obvious that he may be able to provide solid secondary scoring and everyone knows that the Nets could use a guy with a good jumper off the bench since Mikki Moore is gone, but how many minutes is this guy going to be able to get with Vince Carter playing 38 minutes a game?

Not the toughest player on the court either, Houston isn’t going to slotted at small forward anytime soon, meaning that all of his minutes would have to be out of the shooting guard position.

Just because the guy has a name that people remember doesn’t mean that he’ll be able to help this team.

The area where the Nets needed the most help this offseason was getting bigger and by picking up Jamaal Magloire and getting Nenad Krstic back healthy, they’ve successfully done that. Add in a supporting role for guys like Josh Boone, Jason Collins and Sean Williams and it’s easy to see that the Nets will be better on defense and much more aggressive in the paint.

Williams may be more trouble than he’s worth however, failing numerous drug tests in College with barely any offensive game to speak of. However, he’s more athletic than Collins, who is a waste of space at this point in his career. If given a chance, Williams could develop a solid post game in a few years.

Now, notice how I didn’t mention Houston in the last few paragraphs?

Carter, Jefferson and Kidd will provide the Nets with plenty of offense and a 36-year old Houston isn’t really needed.

Stay at ESPN and continue to provide commentary my friend. Your knees feel better lately because you’ve been playing NBA Live for the past three years. Once you start running around again, you’ll have shin splints faster than Antoine Walker and you’ll become an even bigger problem on defense.

It doesn’t matter that you had a great workout last Tuesday workout at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. A workout is a horse of another color compared to a real NBA game.

Your presence would be great for the fans, but how much  you could actually help the team in limited playing time remains to be scene in my mind.