Timberwolves Notes: On All-Star Weekend, news on Pekovic
By Ben Beecken
The Timberwolves have just three games remaining before the unofficial midway point of the season, the All-Star break, is upon us.
This year’s edition is being held in Toronto, and the Wolves will once again be well-represented on Friday and Saturday, although not in the big game on Sunday night.
Last week saw the announcement that Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine would be on the United States’ roster and Andrew Wiggins would represent the World Team in the Friday, February 12th showdown. The Timberwolves have had at least one player in the game for six of the last seven years, with 2014 being the only exception. (The 2010 version saw Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn both participating…what a difference six years makes.)
Earlier this week, the NBA announced that Towns would also be joining the ever-changing skills challenge, which is one of the acts proceeding the the three-point shootout and the dunk contest on NBA All-Star Saturday. This year’s edition will feature four big men (Towns, New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, and Golden State’s Draymond Green) as well as four guards (Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, Portland’s C.J. McCollum, Houston’s Patrick Beverley, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson), instead of the all-guard contestant lineup of years past.
More from Dunking with Wolves
- The dream starting 5 for Minnesota Timberwolves 5 years from now
- Anthony Edwards’ latest accolade is a great sign of things to come
- In an OT thriller, Team Canada snatches Bronze from Team USA
- Timberwolves start, bench, cut: Mike Conley, Shake Milton, Jordan McLaughlin
- Which Timberwolves roster additions have upgraded the bench?
It will be interesting to see what the actual format will be and if the various “obstacles” in the event will remain the same as they have over the past few years.
In unsurprising news also at the above link, Zach LaVine was announced as a participant in the dunk contest, along with Denver’s Will Barton, Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Orlando’s Aaron Gordon. It should be an outstanding contest, and the addition of a couple of big men in Drummond and Gordon should make things interesting.
In more sobering news, this week saw Nikola Pekovic donning street clothes once again and sitting behind the Timberwolves bench instead of on it. After missing more than 10 months of game time and live practice, Pek only managed to appear in 12 games before the pain was too much to continue.
He’s apparently being considered day-to-day, but is understandably beyond frustrated. From the above link:
"Pekovic does not want to be reminded of such things, but somebody did anyway Sunday, when it was mentioned that he seems a little frustrated.“Do I? Really?” he said. “Why do you think? So, you know, it’s frustrating because it’s still hurting. When you do all these treatments and you still got pain, you kind of get a little down. That’s normal.”…“When you can’t push from your right leg, then you can’t like …” Pekovic said, his voice trailing off.When told that it looks like his return to action since last March has not come easily, Pekovic said: “How can it come easy if I was out 10 months? Can you explain me that? So that’s an answer for your question.“I’m still not pain-free. I’m still feeling pain. It’s kind of a little of everything. I’m just learning to play with pain again. That’s the biggest adjustment. And, of course, when you don’t play for 10 months, what do you expect? Come back in two games? It’s not possible.”"
It’s easy to feel badly for Pekovic. He wants to contribute and no doubt feels additional pressure due to the gigantic, five-year, $60 million contract that kicked in last year.
Next: Early Look at Timberwolves Draft Board
But big men and feet problems are nothing new, and the Wolves are getting a first-hand look at how it can hamstring a team’s roster and, on a lesser scale in this day and age, cap space.