The Nets had been coveting one particular point guard for two weeks, and they secured him tonight with the No. 22 pick in the first round of the N.B.A. draft.

Whether or not Jason Kidd returns next season - his agent said tonight that Kidd planned to visit San Antonio and a couple of other cities after he becomes a free agent on Tuesday - the Nets will have a slim 6-foot-7 point guard, Zoran Planinic, coming off the bench.

Planinic, 20, becomes the Nets' first Croatian player since Drazen Petrovic, the All-Star and Hall of Famer who died in a car accident 10 years ago.

"Let's hope he's as good as Drazen," Rod Thorn, the Nets' president, said. "Drazen obviously is the greatest Croatian player ever. I'm not going to say he's Drazen Petrovic. He's a very talented kid. Drazen shot it and he could handle it well; this kid handles it real well and doesn't shoot it like Drazen."

Planinic grew up idolizing Petrovic, and his favorite point guard is Kidd. Planinic was in New York for the draft and was excited when he heard his name called.

"It was great," Planinic said. "I really hoped the Nets selected me because the team is incredibly good and I want to play on a winning team. So I think my way of play and the Nets, we are going to be good."