Report: Pekovic seeks $15mill annually

[indeedproceed]

Pekovic is gonna get paid, Kevin Love is gonna get traded, Wolves 0, NBA +1 Kevin Love

[crimson_stallion]

I think it's hilarious.

Gortat is making about $7M/year right now.  Pekovic sure as hell is not twice the player Gortat is...

This is Brook Lopez money.

Brook Lopez is overpaid too, no?

I think Brook Lopez is right on the borderline, right on the borderline between fair and overpriced.  I also think Lopez has earned more than Pekovic given that he has been a near 20 PPG scorer for a couple of years now, and has had backed that up with solid defensive play and good shotblocking presense as well.   He's not the greatest rebounder out there, but I think anytime you have a 7 footer who plays at a high level on both ends of the floor that guy is going to get big money.

Pekovic on the other hand really is only an impact player on the offensive end of the court.  $12M I would say fair enough (on the border, but acceptable) but $15M is IMHO insane for him.

[indeedproceed]

I think it's hilarious.

Gortat is making about $7M/year right now.  Pekovic sure as hell is not twice the player Gortat is...

This is Brook Lopez money.

Brook Lopez is overpaid too, no?

I think Brook Lopez is right on the borderline, right on the borderline between fair and overpriced.  I also think Lopez has earned more than Pekovic given that he has been a near 20 PPG scorer for a couple of years now, and has had backed that up with solid defensive play and good shotblocking presense as well.   He's not the greatest rebounder out there, but I think anytime you have a 7 footer who plays at a high level on both ends of the floor that guy is going to get big money.

Pekovic on the other hand really is only an impact player on the offensive end of the court.  $12M I would say fair enough (on the border, but acceptable) but $15M is IMHO insane for him.

People always see Brook's blocks and assume it equals good defense. His defense is typically pretty bad, far from elite, closer to average. Pekovic on the other hand is a much tougher defender in the Perkins mold, not a big shot blocker, not a great anchor, but tough as nails and a solid man defender. FWIW, if I had to choose between Pek at 12 and Brook at 15, Pek every time.

[clover]

Rumor was the team made an initial offer of four years for $48M.  He's got a star agent in Jeff Schwartz and it only makes sense they'd want to be sure they weren't leaving anything on the table by coming back with a counter off.  I'd be surprised if they settled on anything higher than four years for $52M.

[kozlodoev]

Rumor was the team made an initial offer of four years for $48M.  He's got a star agent in Jeff Schwartz and it only makes sense they'd want to be sure they weren't leaving anything on the table by coming back with a counter off.  I'd be surprised if they settled on anything higher than four years for $52M.

Looks like standard negotiation to me, I also think they'll end up somewhere between $48 and $60 million, likely (considerably) closer to the former value.

[jambr380]

I think it's hilarious.

Gortat is making about $7M/year right now.  Pekovic sure as hell is not twice the player Gortat is...

This is Brook Lopez money.

Brook Lopez is overpaid too, no?

I think Brook Lopez is right on the borderline, right on the borderline between fair and overpriced.  I also think Lopez has earned more than Pekovic given that he has been a near 20 PPG scorer for a couple of years now, and has had backed that up with solid defensive play and good shotblocking presense as well.   He's not the greatest rebounder out there, but I think anytime you have a 7 footer who plays at a high level on both ends of the floor that guy is going to get big money.

Pekovic on the other hand really is only an impact player on the offensive end of the court.  $12M I would say fair enough (on the border, but acceptable) but $15M is IMHO insane for him.

People always see Brook's blocks and assume it equals good defense. His defense is typically pretty bad, far from elite, closer to average. Pekovic on the other hand is a much tougher defender in the Perkins mold, not a big shot blocker, not a great anchor, but tough as nails and a solid man defender. FWIW, if I had to choose between Pek at 12 and Brook at 15, Pek every time.

The difference between 12 and 15 is pretty minor - who would you prefer overall? I guess I am missing something with Pekovic. I can see the Perk part of his body type, but maybe I am just not a fan of huge clunky players (I get that clunky may be a little harsh, as he does have offensive skill).

I usually agree with IP on everything so I am probably wrong...I know that I was super duper excited about the Nets trade when I thought about a possibility of Brook coming to Boston (obviously it did not work out that way), I would be less than psyched about Pek in green.

[LooseCannon]

Looks like standard negotiation to me, I also think they'll end up somewhere between $48 and $60 million, likely (considerably) closer to the former value.

So, you're predicting that they will end up somewhere between what the T-Wolves are reportedly offering and what Pekovic is reportedly asking for?

[Yogi]

People always see Brook's blocks and assume it equals good defense. His defense is typically pretty bad, far from elite, closer to average. Pekovic on the other hand is a much tougher defender in the Perkins mold, not a big shot blocker, not a great anchor, but tough as nails and a solid man defender. FWIW, if I had to choose between Pek at 12 and Brook at 15, Pek every time.

I think this view is outdated.  I have YES network and so I watch a lot of Nets games.  I began the year feeling the same way you do and I generally despised that team.  But the more I saw the more apparent it became how great Brook Lopez is.  In addition to being one of the best players in the NBA, he is also a great guy. 

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/brooklyn-nets/post/_/id/10478/lopez-playing-career-d

Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert, in that order, are my top 5 centers because they are game changers on both ends of the floor. 

[kozlodoev]

Looks like standard negotiation to me, I also think they'll end up somewhere between $48 and $60 million, likely (considerably) closer to the former value.

So, you're predicting that they will end up somewhere between what the T-Wolves are reportedly offering and what Pekovic is reportedly asking for?

No, the gist of the prediction is that it's going to be much closer to what the T-Wolves are offering. Not that it's much of a prediction anyway.

[ronaldo943]

ESPNSteinLine:This just in: I'm told Nikola Pekovic and Wolves have agreed to five-year deal worth $60 million

[rondoallaturca]

Kevin Love was angling for a 5-year deal and the Wolves downright refused it. I wonder how he feels now that they gave Pek a 5-year deal.

[Who]

ESPNSteinLine:This just in: I'm told Nikola Pekovic and Wolves have agreed to five-year deal worth $60 million

Fair enough contract.

[Fafnir]

Kevin Love was angling for a 5-year deal and the Wolves downright refused it. I wonder how he feels now that they gave Pek a 5-year deal.

Old GM refused to give him the 5-year deal, not the current group. Can't refuse to use that option just because of that.

Though I'm sure he'll be unhappy, but he got his opt out in the end.

[Smitty77]

Smart move by the Wolves!!  I think this is a steal for them.

[Chris]

Kevin Love was angling for a 5-year deal and the Wolves downright refused it. I wonder how he feels now that they gave Pek a 5-year deal.

Its different, because Love wanted the 5 year max deal, which not only is more money, but it also means (I believe) Minnesota would not have been able to give any other players a 5 year max deal, if they were coming off their rookie contract, during the 5 years of Love's contract.

Of course, at this point, it doesn't look like anyone else will deserve that deal, so it may not have mattered.  But its understandable why they wanted to maintain that level of flexibility.