The Minnesota Timberwolves are looking towards next season with high hopes and high expectations after getting back Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio from injuries and along with young star Shabazz Muhammad, the franchise has a bright future and they still hope that includes Nikola Pekovic.
The team and Pekovic have been in intense negotiations on a contract extension and earlier in the offseason there were reports that Pekovic was close to signing a four-year, $50 million deal, but since then things have been quiet. Ownership has been adamant that the team will sign Pekovic to an extension, but with things being hung up likely on the amount of money and years, there is a chance, however slight, that the team will trade him. According to Pro Basketball Talk, no deal is imminent and now executive Flip Saunders will get involved, as the report says that he will travel to New York and will meet with Pekovic's representatives to get things moving along quicker.
While it's never good for something to take this long, it also means that the Timberwolves are serious in how much they want Pekovic, they just want to make sure everything is on the up and up. The center is a big piece for the team along with Love and Rubio and they feel that with him in the middle and the two stars as part of their core, they can easily contend for a playoff spot in the West. Last season Pekovic made over 50 percent of his shots from the floor and he averaged nearly a double-double with 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds a game and the Timberwolves are hoping that production continues.
Although a deal is not really close to happening, it is interesting to look at where else he could fit and some spots include the Grizzlies, Rockets and Thunder, with Denver making some sense since the team could trade him as a restricted free agent for Timofey Mozgov, another that is also a center, to help make up for the loss. The Rockets have their own center that wants a trade in Omer Asik, but so far the team has been unwilling to move him, but if they were presented with a deal for someone like Pekovic, that could certainly change things.
If things can't get worked out with an extension, Pekovic could sign the qualifying offer of just over $6 million for one season and then work from there, but that is well below the $50 million extension that was first reported on obviously. The Timberwolves are looking to improve this season after winning just6 31 games and finishing 20 games under .500 and the addition of Kevin Martin as well as Muhammad and Ronny Turiaf should help that. Martin comes over after playing with the Thunder last season and Turiaf should give the team some solid depth on the bench after averaging 1.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 10.5 minutes last season with the Clippers after he signed a two year deal. Pekovic has proven to be a consistent player and while the Timberwolves could trade him, they see him as a future star and want to keep him local for at least the next few years.