The Nets would like to see Nenad Krstic rest this summer. Krstic wouldn’t mind it, either.
But the young Serbian center feels an obligation to play for his national team, and several sources say Krstic, despite recent claims he would bypass the event, will play at the World Championships.
“There are two schools of thought,” said Nets GM Ed Stefanski, who yesterday continued watching the Nets’ pre-draft workouts that included 7-0 UCLA center Ryan Hollins and 6-2 Memphis point guard Darius Washington. “He has played a lot of minutes with us and it would be nice if he could relax . . . but he has a commitment to his country. People don’t realize here in America how strong the Serbians feel about their national team.
“And we’re talking about a kid playing basketball. It’s not going to hurt his game. He’ll have time before camp to rest,” said Stefanski, who’ll monitor comeback-hopeful Jay Williams’ workout today.
Earlier this week, Milovan Rakovic, Krstic’s former Partizan teammate, said at a Nets workout his understanding was Krstic would play for the national team. Rakovic was invited to audition for the team.
Krstic’s busy summer now cries out for the Nets to find size depth. The team also worked out 7-0 Croatian Franko Kastropil and 6-4 point guard Donnie McGrath of Providence.