FanHouse Nenad Krstic

LAS VEGAS -- The question for the Oklahoma City Thunder is whether premium free agents will want to play in a city with little NBA reputation. That question will loom large in coming years because the Thunder will have a satchel full of money and cap space to attract an All-Star caliber player to join Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green.

Until then, the Thunder will rely on the draft and clever moves such as the mid-season signing of Nenad Krstic and the acquisition of former lottery pick Thabo Sefolosha. Oklahoma City has one of the NBA's lowest payrolls -- although many critics would say that's due to the thriftiness of owner Clay Bennett -- and just $20 million committed to players after the 2010-11 season. But will any of those potential 2010 free agents -- a class that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki -- consider the Dust Bowl?

The market for restricted free agent Paul Millsap was expected to be robust in theory, if not in actuality. This is to say Millsap is a highly desired fellow, given his proclivity to rebound like a champ, score efficiently, and defend his tail off at the power forward position. However, as always, a limited pool of clubs will head into July with cap space for next season.

The Thunder is one team with space to sign a free agent like Millsap. The team currently falls about $15 million under the cap, and Millsap has been pegged to pull a starting salary around $7-8 million. Oklahoma City can certainly afford to get into that ballpark, should Sam Presti desire to. Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune seems to believe OKC, in fact, desires Millsap.

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

The 2002 NBA Draft is filled with what ifs. What if Jason Williams had decided not to jump on that motorcycle? What if DaJuan Wagner had been physically able to withstand the rigors of the NBA? What if NBA scouts weren't so enamored with European prospects?

This is a draft of major successes -- Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer -- and abject failures -- Marcus Haislip, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Frank Williams. And the 2002 class will be best known for not being the 2003 class, perhaps the best in league history. Yao was perhaps the most mysterious No. 1 pick of all time. Few knew more than he was 7-foot-6 and from China.

And what followed Yao was a bunch of question marks, kids who left school too early and unknown international players. The result was an uneven draft that will go down more for its misses than hits.

The Oklahoma City Thunder signed Nenad Krstic to a three-year, $15.8 milion offer sheet today.

The Nets technically still own Krstic's rights and have until Dec. 30 to decide whether they want to match OKC's offer, but they'll almost certainly decline -- not only do they already have 15 players under contract, but the team is also trying to preseve as much cap space as possible for the summer of LeBron 2010.

Krstic was one of several proven NBA veterans to spurn the NBA in favor of signing overseas this summer. But as Tom Ziller reported last week, his presence hasn't elevated the fortunes of his Russian team, which was why they decided to let him out of his contract to return to the NBA.

Assuming the Nets pass on Krstic, don't be surprised if the Thunder figure out a way to thin out a crowded front court. Between Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Robert Swift and Donyell Marshall, the team has plenty of guys with expiring contracts who shouldn't be too hard to move.

I mean, he didn't say it in as many words, but actions speak louder than words, my friends, and Chris Bosh launched that bad boy from at least three-quarters court. My favorite part? Check out Nenad Krstic's reaction from the reverse angle: it's like he knows it's going in before the ball even starts coming down.

And, because I mentioned Bosh, here's the obligatory dinosaur reference.