The New Jersey Nets have exercised the fourth-year option on the contract of guard Zoran Planinic, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  He will remain under contract with the Nets through the 2006-07 season.

"Zoran is a versatile player who has shown continued improvement in his first two seasons," said Thorn.  "We look forward to his continued development."

Zoran Planinic isn't exactly a demonstrative fellow, so if he has some nagging doubt about his future with the Nets, he will suppress it and get on with the business of punishing management for dragging its heels on a longer commitment.

There are only four days left before the Nets must decide whether to extend Planinic's contract by picking up a $1.8 million option, and all indications are that they are going to take a pass -- allowing the swing guard to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The team won't admit that it already has made up its mind, of course, but given that the third-year pro has yet to work his way into the rotation, has never been pursued by other teams for trade ("There's never really been a market for him," one team official said), and can be signed for half that amount if his career arc continues to stay relatively flat, the extension isn't going to happen.

"To my knowledge, they haven't made a decision one way or the other," agent Mark Cornstein said yesterday. "It's something they have to answer, not me. I'm just excited by the way Zoran is playing. That's what I want to focus on. As long as he gets the opportunity, things will work out for him."

Jason Kidd bruised his left quad and spent the final two quarters of the Nets' 118-116 overtime win over the Celtics last night in the locker room to undergo treatment.
The star point guard, however, said he was just being cautious and could have returned if it were a regular-season game.

"Just got hit," said Kidd, who finished with nine points, six rebounds but no assists in 23 minutes. "No need to try and put any strain on any other parts of my body."

Kidd likened the injury to a charley horse, and said he'll see out it feels in practice today. The Nets' final exhibition game is Friday against the Knicks at the Garden.

"We'll see," Kidd said of playing against the Knicks. "I don't know. I'll work out and see how I feel."

Vince Carter and Lamond Murray sometimes share stories about their days in Toronto. Usually there's a laugh, likely followed by a sigh of relief.
Like Carter, Murray is thrilled to be out of the Raptors organization as he returns to Toronto with the Nets for an exhibition game tonight.

"(The Raptors) don't know basketball up there," Murray said. "If you don't know what you're doing, you keep on guessing and that's all that's going on - guessing every year. I'm glad to be out of there. Like Vince, I'm not going to worry about them, I'm not even thinking about them."

Murray would like to erase all of his Toronto memories. He spent his three worst seasons in Toronto before being waived this summer and joining the Nets.

"I try not to complain," the 11-year veteran said. "I tried to be as professional as I could. They just did what they wanted to do. I'm trying not to get into this now and really air out how I really feel. There were many times I wanted to blow up."

Prosecutors in Hunterdon County are seeking a retrial of former New Jersey Net Jayson Williams for reckless manslaughter involving the shooting death of Williams? hired driver.

Williams lawyer Joseph A. Hayden Jr. told an appellate panel Tuesday that the same conduct that a jury found insufficient to convict Williams of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and a weapons charge is the same conduct at the heart of the reckless manslaughter charge.

"Under these facts, it's unequitable to allow the state to have another bite of the apple," Hayden said, arguing that a retrial would violate Williams' right against double jeopardy.

He returned to Toronto last April 15 with a giant bull's-eye on his back, and Vince Carter took every sling and arrow they had for him.

The boos and insults were persistent, but that was only half the sensory overload. There were signs everywhere -- among them, "Half-man, half-snake," and "Vin-Sissy," and "Hey, I stole your mom's parking space" -- and somehow he blocked it all out.

"He handled it well," Jason Kidd recalled. "That was a big game for us. That game had a lot to do with our season, and it just showed the type of player Vince was in the second half of the season -- he was off the charts. And that game, he was definitely off the charts."

Actually, he was typically brilliant, scoring 39 points to help the Nets overcome a 16-point deficit and win by 11, which kept their playoff hopes alive in the final week of the regular season. Those 2 1/2 hours inside Air Canada Centre told the Nets all they needed to know about Carter, and perhaps it taught him a little about himself.

"It was fun," Carter said yesterday as he prepared for another visit to the ACC tomorrow night. "We were on the winning side and we were making our playoff push, so it was an important game for us for a lot of reasons. I actually had a pretty good night, from the second part of the first quarter."

"Don't get me wrong -- I miss the city," he said. "I'll be the first to tell you that. I really enjoyed it. I put a lot of time in there. I had a lot of places and people I was close friends with, like (minority owner) Larry Tanenbaum. I hated to leave the city. It was just something I had to do."

Jeff McInnis strained his back in practice on Saturday night and the injury flared up on him overnight to the point where the guard visited the hospital yesterday morning. McInnis, who suffered the injury when he tried to fight through a screen, couldn't walk in the morning but Lawrence Frank said he was later released from the hospital.
McInnis, the Nets' key offseason acquisition, is expected to come off the bench and play both guard positions this season.

"We will know more about it and see how he does," Frank said. "It's a muscle strain and that is it."