"Barring an 11th hour development, Nenad Krstic was preparing to bid at least a temporary farewell to the NBA yesterday, when the Serbian center was expected to sign a two-year contract with a team in Moscow, according to Nets officials.

The 25-year-old center would be the second Nets free agent to jump to Russia -- Boki Nachbar signed with a different Moscow team last week -- but Krstic has the team's tacit blessing.

Though the Nets were probing some sign-and-trade possibilities with Memphis and one other team before last night's deadline, they believed it would work out for them if Krstic was stashed overseas for a year or two, because they retain his NBA rights as long as they make him an annual qualifying offer.

One Nets official, who could not be identified because he isn't authorized to speak for the team, was blunt: "It wouldn't necessarily be bad, put it that way," he said. "He has to get his confidence back, so maybe it's a good thing."

Before tearing the ACL in his left knee in December 2006, Krstic was one of the most promising young big men in the league, with earning potential in the $40 to $50 million price range. But he had a very disappointing return from his surgery, the Nets never made him more than a $2.7 million qualifying offer, and since the 2007-08 season ended, they have added four big men.

None may be as talented as Krstic, but given that the Nets will be preoccupied with developing the likes of Yi Jianlian and Brook Lopez, they can allow Krstic to develop on his own time and bring him back in 12 months, as he has an opt-out clause after one season.

An additional reason the Nets are comfortable with this trial separation is that the player had essentially lost faith in the training staff. In a July 5 interview with a Serbian sports daily, Krstic trashed the team, blaming his "suffering" on the "wrong work" they had him doing last year, and acknowledging that they allowed him to return "too early."

Krstic's agent, Marc Cornstein, never denied that the translation was accurate."