By FRED KERBER
BOSTON – Boki would love to come back to the Nets next season.
Boki Nachbar never wanted to leave the Nets in the first place. But they were going in a different direction and Dynamo of Moscow was offering three years at $14.3 million – which if paid, was equivalent to nearly $30 million U.S. – and no doubt all the vodka he can swill.
The key phrase is “if paid.” Nachbar is getting his. At least for now. “I know it’s no secret that teams in Europe and especially in Russia have struggled to make payments in time,” Boki said this morning. “My team is no exception. The situation is very unstable and I think as soon as NBA teams found out about that, they tried to get some of us players back — like Nenad.”
That would be Nenad Krstic, now of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
So Boki, who chatted with Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe recently at the European championships, is checking all his options. He’s getting paid and still likes playing in Russia.
“I have spoken to a lot of NBA teams during the season, but there wasn’t an offer that would make me pack up and leave Moscow,” Nachbar said. “I’m definitely gonna explore many options in the off-season.”
And the Nets sound like the first area of exploration, although the team has perimeter three/four types – Yi Jianlian, Ryan Anderson, Bobby Simmons, etc.
“You know that I’d love to return to the Nets, I have always felt great in Jersey. I just want to play out this season and we’ll see what happens in the summer,” Nachbar said.
The Nets of course won’t be looking to add big salaries, but they know that have to massage and tweak the current roster.
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And Nachbar had a good season, one that landed him some honors.
“I’m doing good,” he said of his overall state. “Having a good season so far. We made the Final Eight of Eurocup but failed to win it all. I made the All-Eurocup first team which was nice. We still have Russian championship playoffs ahead of us, which starts on Apr. 16.”
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Nets are at the brink, pretty much at the edge of the cliff and admiring the view down, as far as the playoffs. Tragic number is one. If they lose to the Garnett-less Celtics here tonight or the Pistons beat the Knicks in the Garden, the playoffs hunt is over for this year. Kind of a helpless feeling. The Nets could win out and it wouldn’t matter.
“I don’t focus on that. I just focus on our approach, our effort, our preparation, the things we can control. Let’s focus on those things. The other stuff that’s out of our hands,” said coach Lawrence Frank. “That’s why those games in November and December, all those, that’s why there’s 82 of them.”
And that’s why you’re supposed to win at least 41 of them.
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Assistant coach Doug Overton, who played for seven teams in his 11-year NBA career (including the Nets three different times) was showing off a Celtics “Overton 20” jersey – yep, he played here.
“It was nice of me to let Ray Allen have my number, huh?” he deadpanned.
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Nets are giving out “Brookie of the Year” T-shirts to the first 5,000 fans at Saturday’s Orlando game to promote Brook Lopez’ candidacy for Rookie of the Year.
“He’s exceeded what we expected,” Frank said of Lopez.
And despite his 16 double-doubles and his pick and roll play, Lopez said he is most pumped about his defense. He wanted to be a “defensive anchor” for the Nets, he said. That was the role twin brother Robin was seen to possess as they were coming out of Stanford. He feels he still needs to work on the D stuff.
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Nets staying with the same starting lineup, meaning Keyon Dooling at the two again with Vince Carter at three. Dooling, who is shooting a career best from 3-point range – Magic coaches during last season’s breakup meetings told him that was an area he needed to improve – said he might have off-season surgery, probably an arthroscope, to clean up the hip that bothered him this season.
“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, maybe get it cleaned out or something like that. Now it’s at the point where I have to start thinking about longevity, stuff like that,” Dooling said.
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With the Nets still alive through the power of mathematics, the “let’s see Yi some more” move will wait.
“Eventually we’ll get him in,” Frank said. “Regardless of who’s in there, we’re playing to win the game. It’s two hats: you want to give yourselves the best chance and also he hasn’t played in a couple of games so probably it’s unfair to him.
“And I like the energy and passion the group that’s been playing has been playing with so I’d like to go with that same approach tonight.”
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Useless fact of the day: The Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 was actually fought on Breed’s Hill. Bunker Hill was nearby and it is believed that is where the Colonials were supposed to have defended. And British maps supposedly mis-identified the hills. Doesn’t matter now. Brits won.