Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 Scorers in Franchise History

#13 – Nikola Pekovic

The hulking Montenegrin is only in the second year of a massive five-year contract, but he only played in 31 games in 2013-14 and has yet to even step on the practice floor in 2015-16 due to a major ankle and foot surgery that he underwent over the summer.

The chronic foot issues for a big man are generally the kiss of death, and at this point it seems more likely than not that Pekovic’s career will be cut short and the contract will become a massive detriment for the Timberwolves. But when he was (relatively) healthy, he was a monster.

Despite never playing more than 62 games in a season (he played in 65 as a rookie but only averaged 13.6 minutes per game), Pekovic is already 13th on the Timberwolves all-time scoring list. Kevin Garnett is the only active player ahead of him and Kevin Martin is the closest active Timberwolf behind him all the way down at #25.

Pek’s agility in the post and bullish style combined with a soft (sometimes too-soft) touch around the rim led to a number of impressive scoring nights. In his best two seasons, 2012-13 and 2013-14, Pekovic averaged 16.9 points per game on 53 percent shooting from the field and 74.5 percent free throw shooting in nearly five attempts per game from the charity stripe.

Here’s hoping he can return this year, even to play a bit role of 10-15 minutes per game. He should continue to add to his career points total, no matter how slowly, for the next couple of seasons at least.

Next: #12 - Terrell Brandon