The New Jersey Nets have named Kiki Vandeweghe Special Assistant to the President, Nets' President Rod Thorn announced today.  His duties will include working closely with Thorn in preparing for the 2008 NBA Draft and in the evaluation of current and future player personnel.

?We are very pleased to welcome Kiki to the Nets,? said Thorn.  ?Kiki has been a mainstay in the league for almost two decades, first as an All-Star player and then as a front office executive.  His experience in both areas will be an invaluable asset to the franchise, and we look forward to his contributions.?

Kiki Vandeweghe is heading to the New Jersey Nets in a management role to assist team president and general manager Rod Thorn, a source told ESPN on Monday.

Vandeweghe will essentially replace Ed Stefanski, who left the Nets to join the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this month. Stefanski replaced Billy King as the 76ers general manager.

A formal announcement is expected Monday afternoon.

Rod Thorn is expected to name Kiki Vandeweghe or John Gabriel as his new interim player personnel guy in the next couple of days.

They would fill the void left by the departure of Ed Stefanski to the Sixers.

Everyone seems to be waiting for Nets' President Rod Thorn to lose patience and make a deal like the five-for-one swap he pulled off for Vince Carter in 2004 or the lopsided one he made for Jason Kidd three years earlier.

"Those don't come around every day," Thorn said. "We're like a lot of other teams. We're seeing what's out there, but right now we're not close to doing anything."

A few bad losses won't get a knee-jerk reaction from Thorn. He said the Nets are playing better, having won three of four games before they closed out 2007 against the Bucks on Saturday night. But it would be surprising if the Feb. 21 trade deadline passed without Thorn doing something.

"That's very hard to say," Thorn said when asked if he expects this nucleus to remain together all season. "You never know something like that."

Nenad Krstic, who has been tethered to trainers and rehab specialists for five weeks, was actually subjected to basketball drills the last two days -- with encouraging results.

"I am really happy," the Nets' center said after having a long, fullcourt workout conducted by Assistant Coach Jim Sann yesterday. "At first, the progress was really slow. Now it's really going faster. I'm really getting closer to being back for playing time."

He could only say this much about when he might return, "Not months. Weeks," he said.

"Honestly, it is hard to say. I don't want to say I'm coming back in two weeks and then I'm not. So I hope it is very soon, so I can help the team."

Lawrence Frank didn't give a very comprehensive report because that leads to things like timetables.

"You just hope for his own good," the coach said, "because he is such a good person, because he is such a diligent worker that he is able to get back on the floo,r and he's able to play."

Jason Kidd entered Wednesday night needing eight assists to pass Gary Payton for sixth on the career list. He finished with 13 assists against the Pistons, upping his career total to 8,972 dishes.

Magic GM Otis Smith is trying to construct a team around Dwight Howard that will win a title -- and hold up for a long run. It's why he isn't terribly interested in acquiring a veteran star, such as New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd, for example.

He said it isn't because Magic ownership wouldn't agree to pay another big salary and venture into the punitive luxury tax. "They'd do that, for the right guy," he said.

Serious trade talk typically doesn't begin until January in the NBA, but logic would suggest Chicago Bulls general manager John Paxson is ready to explore ways to trade center Ben Wallace.

The Bulls would have to pay a premium, but one positive is that his contract was front-loaded, which means from the original $60 million deal, he's owed $28.5 million over the next two seasons.

"Change is not always bad," Wallace said after Saturday's dismal 116-98 home loss to Houston. "If everybody wants to be here, we have to step it up."

The most obvious trade targets for the Bulls are New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd and Memphis Grizzlies center Pau Gasol.

Just-fired Chicago Bulls' Coach Scott Skiles will have a job next season, and his team will improve. Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley has become a big fan of Skiles, and the two spent time together at the Coach's Annual Meeting in September. The New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers probably will give him a hard look.

The New Jersey Nets have signed free agent guard Billy Thomas, Nets' President Rod Thorn announced today.  Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released.

The 6?5? Thomas played in 12 games this season for the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League, averaging 14.9 points 4.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game.  

Now in his second stint with the Nets, Thomas played in 25 games with New Jersey in 2004-05, averaging 3.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.  The following season (2005-06), Thomas appeared in 17 games with the Washington Wizards.  Over his two NBA seasons, Thomas has posted career averages of 3.1 points and 1.2 rebounds in 42 games.

Following his four-year career at the University of Kansas, Thomas? basketball travels have included stops in Argentina, the IBL, the Philippines, Italy, the CBA, and a previous two-year stint in the D-League with Greenville.