In the 2008 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves held the 31st overall pick and selected a Montenegrin center named Nikola Pekovic. He was a seven footer and weighed in at about 300 pounds, often showing glimpses of an intimidating interior force.
After a few years playing overseas, Pekovic joined the Timberwolves in 2010 and for about three seasons he proved to be a valuable second round selection for the Wolves. In the summer of 2013, Pekovic signed a huge five-year, $60 million contract and was immediately positioned as the Wolves starting center. Just a few months later, Pekovic suffered an injury in January of 2014 and that seemingly marked the beginning of the end for Pekovic.
He only played 54 games in 2013-14, 31 games in 2014-15 and just 12 games in 2015-16, the last time he saw the floor for Minnesota. He battled ankle and Achilles injury issues for his final four seasons in the league and finally, the Wolves made a decision to move on. After attempting to trade him, the Wolves made a decision they were aiming to do for a long time. Pekovic was waived earlier today by Minnesota.
Following comes from an official Timberwolves press release.
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the team has waived center Nikola Pekovic.
Nikola Pekovic’s final game was January 31st, 2016 when he played six minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers. He appeared in 271 total games for the Wolves over his six seasons, averaging 12.6 points, on 51.8 percent shooting, and 6.7 rebounds. This is posisbly the final time we will see Pekovic in the NBA.
