As the story gets told now, the waiting began a little more than two weeks ago, when a team and a player found each other but had to hang around to see if their newfound love would be a lasting one.

Zoran Planinic, a 20-year-old Croatian point guard, worked out for the Nets on June 11. It was the second time he worked out for them, and it was the last workout Planinic did -- for the Nets or anyone else. Conveniently, Planinic tweaked his back during the workout, so he couldn't try out for any other team.

That was fine with the Nets -- they knew from that they had just seen the player they wanted, a guy they had rated as the top point guard of any they worked out, and they didn't particularly want anyone else to get a look at him.

"Planinic was a guy we were hoping to get," Nets president Rod Thorn said. "He was terrific in workout."

And it was fine with Planinic, since the Nets were the team he had his heart set on.

"I really hoped the Nets would select me, because the team is incredibly good and I wanted to play for a winning team," Planinic said.