Minnesota want Pekovic for next season

The rumors battle for Pekovic has begun.. only time will tell what the truth is.


According to gazzetta.gr, Nikola Pekovic(2.10-C) will be playing in the NBA next season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The article hosts comments of Tony Ronzone, the new assistant general manager of the Timberwolves. Ronzone was head of the international scouting team of the Detroit Pistons and now he will be taking up a high profile position in Minnesota as an assistant manager. Another thing of note is the imminent visit of the president of basketball operations of Minnesota, David Kahn, to Athens. That visit will take place during the play-offs.


Ronzone said the following about Pekovic's case:
"There is no doubt about the deal, it was over and done with about ten days ago, when I started in my new role. We have spoken with both the player and with his agent and we agree on everything. The amount to be paid to Panathinaikos to release Nikola is quite reasonable, so there isn't a problem. We're just waiting for the season to finish for Panathinaikos. We are very impressed by the improvements that Pekovic made over the last two years and we believe he is a player who can help us immediately! In post-up game is unbeatable, shoots free throws with a very high percentage and a very striking feature of his game is his speed and the way he runs the court, in proportion to his size. What makes me wonder though is his playing time that has diminished to 17-18 minutes".


"We might have to give away Kevin Love as a trade. Love is a very good player but he can't co-exist with Al Jefferson, who has a contract for 3 more seasons and 42 million dollars! So by trading Kevin Love we can make some space for Nikola Pekovic".

When Pekovic's agent, Misko Raznatovic, was asked about Ronzone's comment he said that it's not true!
"There is no deal. These rumors are silly. There are talks between us and Minnesota but there is no deal between us. Pekovic's contract with Panathinaikos expires at the summer of 2011 but there is an NBA-clause in it. There obviously an interest from Minnesota but nothing's final".

Pekovic himself followed the politically correct way and said that there is no deal and that he is a player of Panathinaikos. He's only interested in the play-offs at this stage, which is fair enough.


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