Tuesday Bolts - 12.30.08

• Help has officially arrived; Krstic will join the Thunder: "The New Jersey Nets have declined to match Oklahoma City's offer sheet to former first-round pick Nenad Krstic. The decision Tuesday gives the Thunder another 7-footer as they continue to look for a reliable center. Krstic was playing in Russia when the Thunder extended an offer sheet to him last week. The Nets had a week to match it but passed."

• Bright Side of the Sun said last night's Thunder reminded them of someone: "The Suns seemed to be sleepwalking in the first quarter, this could be due to the days off or underestimating the opponent. The defense was really bad (to say the least) and it seemed that The Thunder were scoring at will. They looked like the old Suns, running, cutting to the basket and getting highlight dunks and assists that will surely be on the top ten tonight. To make things even worse, just into 9 minutes of the first quarter Nash got hurt on a beautiful pick and roll play with Amundson who finished an AND1 play. Nash signaled coach Porter to get him out of the game and never came back. It was later reported that Nash had back spasms."

• Ziller says at least you're not a Bobcats fan: "When you think of utter hopelessness in the NBA today, Oklahoma City surely comes to mind. The team's record is horrific. I mean, maybe the Detroit Lions have softened the string of utter failure to our cynical eyes. But three wins, 29 losses ... that will almost always be hilarious to the neutral party. Whether justice to the jilted, brown grass to the fellow sufferer or simple joke, the Thunder have become a complete laughingstock. You feel silly for even looking for the bright side. But you can't tell me there isn't hope there. The truly bad in the NBA can offer one concession to fans: hope for a better tomorrow. In this league, that is fulfilled by youth. Oklahoma City has loads of youth: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook ... all kids, and all starters right now. OKC owns roughly two dozen draft picks to spend the next two Junes. Take away Joe Smith and Earl Watson, and you've basically got a college team. This is where we turn to our main subject, a bad team without much hope, by my count the Bleakest Team in the NBA: the Charlotte Bobcats."

• Another Serge Ibaka update: In December, he's averaging 13 minutes per game, 5.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and is shooting 57 percent from the field.

• A mock draft from Bleacher Report has Oklahoma City picking you-know-where and taking you-know-who: "Clearly the supreme talent in this class, the sophomore 6-foot-9 forward has gotten off to a ridiculous start this year for the unbeaten Sooners. His superior athleticism gives him a huge advantage crashing the boards, and his offensive game is explosive and already highly-polished. Unlike Michael Beasley before him, his work ethic and killer instinct are unquestioned and he appears willing to do anything to get the win. Unfortunately for him, it's looking like he'll have to stay in Oklahoma and play for the OKC Durants. Quite frankly, this team needs anything it can get. They wouldn't be doing too shabbily to snag Griffin, though."