#pekovic

 Nikola Pekovic #14 of the Minnesota Timberwolves stretches before the game against the Washington Wizards on December 27, 2013 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Pekovic, Timberwolves agree on new 5-yr, $60M offer (Yahoo! Sports).

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)– Nikola Pekovic didn’t wish to leave Minnesota, and the Timberwolves weren’t about to let him go.

After weeks of arrangements, waiting and watching, the two sides came to agreement on Wednesday on a brand-new five-year contract worth $ 60 million that includes an additional $ 8 million in rewards.

“He’s a controling offensive player,”Timberwolves head of state of basketball operations Flip Saunders said in a teleconference. “He plays incredibly difficult. He probably will work as hard as he can to measure up to a contract he indicators, whatever it is worth.”After uploading a career-high 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game last season, the 27-year-old Pekovic was a limited cost-free agent when the NBA’s financial year opened on July 1. That suggested the Timberwolves had the right to match any offer he received from another team, and Saunders made it clear from the start that they would do whatever it required to keep him in Minnesota.

In the end, that consisted of including a 5th year on the initial four-year, $ 48 million offer they presented Pekovic and his representative, Jeff Schwartz, a few weeks back.

“With him and Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, we have actually got 3 cornerstones in that franchise that all match each various other,”Saunders said.

After 3 periods in the NBA, Pekovic has actually emerged as among the finest offensive huge guys in a significantly center-scarce league. He figured to garner a lot of interest from various other groups wanting to add some size and scoring to the paint. He awaited Dwight Howard to pick between numerous dates. When Howard signed with the Houston Firecrackers, the belief was that a lucrative offer from among the groups that lost out – perhaps the Hawks or Mavericks – could be en route.

Both of those teams chose not to pursue Pekovic, but the Timberwolves were still left holding their breath in hopes that an additional team with plentiful cap area like the Bucks would require their hand with a monster offer.

That offer never ever came. With the marketplace settling and the chance of an additional offer growing more remote per day, Saunders came through with the fifth year on the deal to get it done. Because Pekovic was a limited free of cost agent and not signing an extension on his novice offer, the Timberwolves still have the one five-year, novice scale offer allowed by the existing cumulative bargaining contract for Rubio, if they so choose.

There was some concern about whether offering Pekovic five years would fluster Love, who wasn’t delighted when previous head of state David Kahn declined to provide him the team’s “marked player”five-year extension in 2012. But Kahn was fired after last season and Saunders stated he has had discussions about the Pekovic deal with Love, who offered his full support.

“More than anything else Kevin wishes to win,”Saunders stated. “As we spoke about Pek, he stated, ‘You have to do exactly what you need to do.’ … I have no idea what’s been done in the past and I truly do not care. As he stated, we’re moving forward.”The 6-foot-11 Pekovic balanced simply 0.8 blocks per game last season, indicating he isn’t really the timeless rim protector that would be the greatest asset for a Timberwolves protection that is brief on stoppers. He also missed out on 20 games last period and 15 the year prior to due to different unpleasant injuries that happen due to his physical style of play.

But keeping Pekovic was a concern for Saunders and Wolves coach Rick Adelman, who valued the Montenegrin’s soft hands and fast feet in the post along with his underrated pick-and-roll defense.

Now that his offer is done, Pekovic will team with Love and Rubio to form a promising young core for the Wolves, who will be pushing for their first postseason appearance since 2004. In a league that is getting smaller and smaller, with few dominant huge guys, the Wolves see Pekovic’s size and strength as one of their finest possibilities to produce consistent mismatches in the requiring Western Conference.

The key will be keeping Pekovic on the floor. He has missed time due to numerous foot and ankle problems, the majority of minor in nature that originated from the pounding he handles a nightly basis. When Saunders took control of for Kahn earlier this summer season, he said he thought the Wolves can make some adjustments that would assist him and the rest of their players stay healthy over the long season.

Saunders stated Wednesday that the target will be “in the 70s”in regards to the variety of games Pekovic will play.

– Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski

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Pekovic, Timberwolves agree on new 5-yr, $60M offer (Yahoo! Sports).

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)– Nikola Pekovic didn’t wish to leave Minnesota, and the Timberwolves weren’t about to let him go.

After weeks of arrangements, waiting and watching, the two sides came to agreement on Wednesday on a brand-new five-year contract worth $ 60 million that includes an additional $ 8 million in rewards.

“He’s a controling offensive player,”Timberwolves head of state of basketball operations Flip Saunders said in a teleconference. “He plays incredibly difficult. He probably will work as hard as he can to measure up to a contract he indicators, whatever it is worth.”After uploading a career-high 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game last season, the 27-year-old Pekovic was a limited cost-free agent when the NBA’s financial year opened on July 1. That suggested the Timberwolves had the right to match any offer he received from another team, and Saunders made it clear from the start that they would do whatever it required to keep him in Minnesota.

In the end, that consisted of including a 5th year on the initial four-year, $ 48 million offer they presented Pekovic and his representative, Jeff Schwartz, a few weeks back.

“With him and Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio, we have actually got 3 cornerstones in that franchise that all match each various other,”Saunders said.

After 3 periods in the NBA, Pekovic has actually emerged as among the finest offensive huge guys in a significantly center-scarce league. He figured to garner a lot of interest from various other groups wanting to add some size and scoring to the paint. He awaited Dwight Howard to pick between numerous dates. When Howard signed with the Houston Firecrackers, the belief was that a lucrative offer from among the groups that lost out – perhaps the Hawks or Mavericks – could be en route.

Both of those teams chose not to pursue Pekovic, but the Timberwolves were still left holding their breath in hopes that an additional team with plentiful cap area like the Bucks would require their hand with a monster offer.

That offer never ever came. With the marketplace settling and the chance of an additional offer growing more remote per day, Saunders came through with the fifth year on the deal to get it done. Because Pekovic was a limited free of cost agent and not signing an extension on his novice offer, the Timberwolves still have the one five-year, novice scale offer allowed by the existing cumulative bargaining contract for Rubio, if they so choose.

There was some concern about whether offering Pekovic five years would fluster Love, who wasn’t delighted when previous head of state David Kahn declined to provide him the team’s “marked player”five-year extension in 2012. But Kahn was fired after last season and Saunders stated he has had discussions about the Pekovic deal with Love, who offered his full support.

“More than anything else Kevin wishes to win,”Saunders stated. “As we spoke about Pek, he stated, ‘You have to do exactly what you need to do.’ … I have no idea what’s been done in the past and I truly do not care. As he stated, we’re moving forward.”The 6-foot-11 Pekovic balanced simply 0.8 blocks per game last season, indicating he isn’t really the timeless rim protector that would be the greatest asset for a Timberwolves protection that is brief on stoppers. He also missed out on 20 games last period and 15 the year prior to due to different unpleasant injuries that happen due to his physical style of play.

But keeping Pekovic was a concern for Saunders and Wolves coach Rick Adelman, who valued the Montenegrin’s soft hands and fast feet in the post along with his underrated pick-and-roll defense.

Now that his offer is done, Pekovic will team with Love and Rubio to form a promising young core for the Wolves, who will be pushing for their first postseason appearance since 2004. In a league that is getting smaller and smaller, with few dominant huge guys, the Wolves see Pekovic’s size and strength as one of their finest possibilities to produce consistent mismatches in the requiring Western Conference.

The key will be keeping Pekovic on the floor. He has missed time due to numerous foot and ankle problems, the majority of minor in nature that originated from the pounding he handles a nightly basis. When Saunders took control of for Kahn earlier this summer season, he said he thought the Wolves can make some adjustments that would assist him and the rest of their players stay healthy over the long season.

Saunders stated Wednesday that the target will be “in the 70s”in regards to the variety of games Pekovic will play.

– Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski

This entry travelled through the Full-Text RSS service —– if this is your content and you’re reviewing it on someone else’s site, please check out the Frequently Asked Question at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters suggests: ‘You State What You Like, Because They Like Exactly what You Say’ – http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/alerts-2013/731-you-say-what-you-like-because-they-like-what-you-say.html

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New Post has been published on http://hoopsternation.com/news/saunders-says-talks-with-pekovic-are-proceeding

Saunders says talks with Pekovic are proceeding

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)– Settlements with restricted cost-free agent Nikola Pekovic have actually dragged on for well over a month now without any obvious end in sight.

That has done minor to decrease Minnesota Timberwolves head of state of basketball operations Flip Saunders’ self-confidence that an offer will ultimately come together. The contract talks with among the finest offensive centers in the game are “moving in a favorable instructions,” Saunders stated on Monday.

The Timberwolves have actually provided Pekovic a four-year offer worth about $ 48 million. Because Pekovic is a restricted cost-free agent, the Wolves can match any offer he receives from an additional group. However the longer the summertime goes, the less likely it appears that Pekovic will get a significant offer from anyone else.

Pekovic uploaded profession highs with 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds in 62 games last period for the Timberwolves. He has invested his first three seasons in the NBA in Minnesota after coming by from playing in Greece, and the Timberwolves wish to keep him right here. In addition to his polish and active feet on the low block, the Timberwolves also view him as an underrated protector against the pick-and-roll sets that control the league nowadays.

“I do think that Pek understands what we have in location, the individuals we have actually generated, that this is a favorable location,” Saunders stated. “I’m positive we’ll have a conference of the minds.”

He termed the talks with Pekovic’s representative, Jeff Schwartz, as cordial. Saunders has actually fulfilled with Schwartz in individual to try to get a deal finished, however without any other offers on the table and training camp still more than a month and a half away, there hasn’t been genuine sense of urgency to obtain a deal done.

“Jeff and I have had very excellent conversations,” said Saunders, who has been stubborn because taking control of for the fired David Kahn that the Wolves would do whatever it requires to keep Pekovic. “Absolutely nothing’s been adversarial. There’s things that we have actually agreed upon. There’s things we have actually accepted disagree upon. I think we’re relocating the right instructions.”

Pekovic has actually invested the summer at home in Montenegro and recently took out of the European championships because he hasn’t signed an agreement. He has actually missed huge portions of time due to injury in each of his first three seasons, so he merely couldn’t manage to play in the hyper-competitive competition in Europe and run the risk of getting harmed without a signed contract.

“I believe we’re relocating forward,” Saunders stated. “I think it’s been more of an education process on both sides about why they think where each is at, as far as offers. I think we’re relocating a positive direction.”

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