TWolves are after Nicola Pekovic

[ederson]

Last week D.Kahn was in Athens and a sports site (gazzetta.gr) asked him a few questions about Pekovic

The title of the article is "Wolves are howling for Pekovic"

He pretty much said the following

Nicola`s game has improved greatly since he`s joined Panathinaikos.

We believe that he is ready to play against the best in the world. Hes got room for improvement and from what we know he has great work ethic.

I can confirm the rumours linking him to our team.We are anxious to start the discussions with Nicola and his manager

He is strong , tall and athletic. He can defiantely help us a lot under the basket. He has better physical ablities than Al Jefferson and Kevin Love.

Here`s the link

[arctic 3.0]

is all greek to me

[asterix]

Last week D.Kahn was in Athens and a sports site (gazzetta.gr) asked him a few questions about Pekovic

The title of the article is "Wolves are howling for Pekovic"

He pretty much said the following

Nicola`s game has improved greatly since he`s joined Panathinaikos.

We believe that he is ready to play against the best in the world. Hes got room for improvement and from what we know he has great work ethic.

I can confirm the rumours linking him to our team.We are anxious to start the discussions with Nicola and his manager

He is strong , tall and athletic. He can defiantely help us a lot under the basket. He has better physical ablities than Al Jefferson and Kevin Love.

Here`s the link

Nikola Pekovic is a very good PF/C in Europe and he may turn out to be a legitimate NBA PF, but Kahn is out of his mind if he thinks this guy will ever come close to what Big Al is now. Maybe this is the reason his team looks the way it does...

[thebirdman]

Minny drafted him with the first pick of the second round in 2008 draft. We took Giddens a pick before...

I like Pekovic. He is a strong center who is great around the basket. He would be a nice fit in MIN because he would give them some toughness...

Hopefully, he decides to come over, he has what it takes to make it in the NBA, IMO.

[Roy Hobbs]

Minny drafted him with the first pick of the second round in 2008 draft. We took Giddens a pick before...

I like Pekovic. He is a strong center who is great around the basket. He would be a nice fit in MIN because he would give them some toughness...

Hopefully, he decides to come over, he has what it takes to make it in the NBA, IMO.

Teams at the end of the first round didn't take Pekovic because they knew he'd never agree to come over to the NBA for the rookie scale amount.  Being a second round pick gives teams more flexibility in terms of what they can offer him in terms of a contract.

It wasn't a surprise that he was taken with the first pick of the second round; it was pretty much commonly understood that that would happen.

[Brickowski]

Kahn's statements are just GM speak.  If he wants Pekovic to leave Europe for the NBA, he has to show some love and assure Nicola that there will be plenty of playing time.

My guess is that, if Rubio comes, Pekovic will follow unless he enters into into a long term European deal and fails to negotiate a realistic buyout.

[ederson]

Pekovic is the only real center of the team and the owners are known big spenders (Saras , 4th-5th option in 1-2, has a 3m contract!!!) He plays for a Serbian legend (Obradovic) and competes for the Euroleague title

I can`t see how Twolves can "lure" him

[Who]

Does anyone know any details on Pekovic's contract with Panathinaikos?

How much money? How long it is? Does it have an opt out clause for NBA?

[Tai]

My first thoughts when reading this:

"They're going after a girl?" 

[ederson]

Pekovic has one more year for 1.6m euro (~2m $)
There is an opt out clause but nothing like Rubio`s I think it`s about 1m $

IMHO Pekovic is not very interested in joining an NBA team. He`ll use wolves to get a better deal with panathinaikos

[scoop]

Nikola Pekovic is a very good PF/C in Europe and he may turn out to be a legitimate NBA PF

I think there's no chance Pekovic can play the 4 in the NBA. Pekovic is a center in Europe, in the NBA and everywhere else - too big, slow and physical to play any other position.

Does anyone know any details on Pekovic's contract with Panathinaikos?

How much money? How long it is? Does it have an opt out clause for NBA?

Pekovic has one more year for 1.6m euro (~2m $)
There is an opt out clause but nothing like Rubio`s I think it`s about 1m $

IMHO Pekovic is not very interested in joining an NBA team. He`ll use wolves to get a better deal with panathinaikos

Pekovic's contract is € 1.3 million(net, after taxes) per year and expires in 2011; he has a NBA buy-out clause this season for €1M (that shouldn't be a problem, considering he was drafted in the 2nd round).

I think Pekovic is starting to develop a genuine interest in playing in the NBA. He may not be the league biggest fan (I had the opportunity to chat to him about some time ago and he had no idea who was Dwight Howard) and Obradovic is like his 2nd father, but, after all, he's an extremely competitive person who I think is getting bored in Europe - he needs a new challenge and the NBA may be that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he joins the Wolves this season and I'm now expecting him to come over with Rubio in 2011.

I agree with Brickowski, the Wolves have to seduce him. I don't think it's strictly or even mostly about the money or guaranteed minutes but to convince him they have a project and that he fits there.

[Brickowski]

They said the same thing about Scola, and he has done just fine in the NBA.

Having said that, the NBA is becoming less and less attractive for European stars. In Europe they play fewer games, get much better perks and better tax tratment for their money.

[scoop]

They said the same thing about Scola, and he has done just fine in the NBA.

What same thing?