Nikola Pekovic believes that his day with the Minnesota Timberwolves will come once again.
Forgive us if we don’t share those sentiments.
Pekovic has yet to play this season as he recovers from Achilles tendon surgery, and he’s appeared in just 85 games over the last three campaigns. Now, apparently, he’s nearing a return—one that he believes is going to stick.
Per the Star Tribune‘s Jerry Zgoda:
Understandably skeptical when the Timberwolves began training camp two months ago, injured center Nikola Pekovic projected optimism Tuesday that he’ll once again become an everyday player.
He declared himself “not pain-free” but “way better than before” during an update with media members on his road back from April’s Achilles’ tendon surgery intended to resolve a troublesome ankle that has abbreviated his last four seasons.
Returned to running and playing one-on-one against teammate Ricky Rubio and others, Pekovic hopes to join his team for workouts within two weeks, presumably with his return to game action a couple of weeks after that. That’d be just about time to ring in the New Year. …
“Hopefully with this surgery I’ve solved all my problems,” said Pekovic, who is owed about $12 million a year for each of two seasons beyond this one. “What I had before, you can never tell if those things are going to come back or if you’re going to feel something different. You can never tell if you’re going to hurt again, but with this progress, I really feel I can come back and play like I used to play before.”
In a vacuum, it would make sense for the Timberwolves to play Pekovic extensively, provided his ankle is up for it. They signed him to a five-year, $60 million deal more than two years ago, and including this season, he is still owed $35.6 million through 2017-18.
Due in large part to his injuries, and in small part to his limited defensive arsenal, Pekovic is immovable. And that’s a problem, because the Timberwolves have left him behind.
Karl-Anthony Towns is the future in Minnesota; Kevin Garnett won’t be around forever, but he’s signed through next season; Gorgui Dieng remains one of the team’s most valuable players; Nemanja Bjelica has at times shined as a stretch 4 and 5; and the Timberwolves seem hell-bent on seeing this Adreian Payne experiment through.
Where does that leave Pekovic?
We don’t yet know.
Even if he’s healthy and ready to rock, though, it likely leaves him nowhere good.
