Thunder Insider: Pros, cons of starting Serge Ibaka

In his final interview with reporters immediately after the season, Nenad Krstic said he could adapt to a possible move to the bench.

"Yeah, definitely,” Krstic said. "But I can say only this, all my career I was a starter. So that's going to be something new for me. But, definitely, I can adjust.”

Since his rookie season in 2004-05, Krstic has started 306 of 348 regular season games. But the reason the 7-footer was answering questions about being supplanted in the starting lineup was because of the emergence of young gun Serge Ibaka.

Ibaka developed so rapidly this season that the rookie gravitated from a potential D-League assignee before the start of training camp to crunch time playoff minutes against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. Even the man who might lose his job to Ibaka couldn't dismiss the pup's potential.

"I (haven't) seen a lot of guys 20 (years old) with that kind of confidence,” Krstic said. "He's just going to get better.”

But for the 2010-11 season, there are advantages and disadvantages to giving Ibaka the nod over Krstic.

The most obvious advantage to starting Ibaka is the opportunity it would give him to develop more rapidly. A starter's role doesn't necessarily equate to more minutes, but it does inevitably allow Ibaka to cut his teeth on better competition more regularly.

From a team standpoint, promoting Ibaka could turn an already strong defensive unit into a much more dynamic bunch. Although Krstic is the superior position and team defender, Ibaka is better at providing weak side help and resistance at the rim. Ibaka's length and athleticism could change the face of games, much like when his inspired play at times staggered the Lakers.

Moving Krstic to the bench might also boost a second unit that sometimes struggled for scoring sources.

On the other hand, Brooks must be ready to risk altering the team chemistry that made the Thunder click so well.

Much of the team's success this season can be attributed to continuity that was missing a year ago. Oklahoma City played just 17 games with its staring unit of Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Krstic in 2008-09. This season, that number ballooned to 76. And, largely because of that, it's not a given that Krstic will have the same value as a reserve that he's had in the first unit. It's far from guaranteed that Krstic and Eric Maynor will mesh as much as Krstic and Westbrook on high pick-and-pop and side pick-and-roll plays. Would Krstic be able to get the same quality shots with the second unit?

Starting Ibaka also eliminates one of the Thunder's two main sources of energy off the bench, veteran Nick Collison being the other supplier.

What will Brooks do?

The suspense remains — even after Krstic politely removed the stickiness from the situation.

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