Nemanja Bjelica epitomized the definition of “inconsistent,” in 2016-17, but his performances prior to a long-term injury could mean a new chapter in the Serbian’s NBA career.
Having gained Nemanja Bjelica’s trade rights from the Washington Wizards in 2010 as the 35th pick in the NBA Draft, it would be another five years until fans at Target Center would get to see him on the court.
A half-decent debut campaign in Minneapolis for Bjelica had set up this year as being a possible breakthrough for the forward.
Yet, it would be a rather below-average start not only for the team, but Bjelica as well, though improvements were made during the season.
Sluggish
A 1-for-7 stat line across the season openers over 28 minutes was not exactly the start Bjelica or Tom Thibodeau expected.
In fact, it would take until November 13, in Bjelica’s first career start, against the Los Angeles Lakers at home to finally find some form.
The game concluded with the Serbian playing 41 minutes with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
A career line to be proud of, considering it was his first time in the starting five, and yet it was something he just could not replicate in future games.
He would not better his 60 percent field goal percentage from that game until December 3 in a Charlotte Hornets overtime win, when he made 5-7 to grab himself a 71.4 percent field goal percentage.
His minutes had stagnated since then and was still the case even after his aforementioned performance in North Carolina.
However, when February rolled around, it would be time for Bjelica to excel.
Turnaround
It would take a quartet of road games in late February and early March for Bjelica to finally turn around his average performances into a strong influence from the bench.
In fact, his two-game spell at both Sacramento and Utah totaled 34 minutes on average, his best over a span of 96 minutes during the season.
The closest other two-game minute total came way back in the middle of December with an average of 31, due mainly to playing 41 minutes in a home win over the Lakers.
Over the course of those four games, Bjelica secured a field goal percentage of 47.1 percent, nearly securing a made basket every two attempts
Marney Gellner, a sideline reporter and host at FOX Sports North, spoke to Bjelica on March 6 following his improvement on the court.
Arguably the best of those games came in just 14 minutes against Houston, where he went 4-for-5 on field goals and also made both of his 3-pointers.
Gellner asked whether Bjelica felt his game had turned a corner on the road trip, to which he replied:
"“Yeah. I tried to play my game and I feel most comfortable now when I try to help the team.I have tried to be more aggressive and play defense with confidence.In Sacramento, coach [Tom Thibodeau] gave me an opportunity for lots of minutes on the road trip, and I used this to try to get better.”"
Injury
The improvement continued to games back in Minnesota, and although a drab showing against the Los Angeles Clippers where he scored no points, Bjelica got better as his minutes got lengthier.
A combined total of 95 minutes across a possible 144 coupled alongside a field goal percentage of 58.6 percent meant the Serbian was finally combining his Euroleague talent to the NBA.
However, on March 16 Bjelica sustained an injury to his left foot in the second quarter in a match with the Boston Celtics, putting him out for the remainder of the season.
A bit of irony was present in Nemanja’s injury.
He had just started to find a groove whereby his NBA-worthy talent was on show, only to miss the season.
A run of games had given the Timberwolves a 5-3 record and a possibility of playoff basketball during Bjelica’s performances, but the injury concluded such a chance.
Following the Celtics game, the record then stood at 0-6 until a win at the Indiana Pacers on March 28.
Next Season
Bjelica must not rue his injury that halted his impressive on-court showings if he truly wishes to excel on the Timberwolves.
He may not be Karl-Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins, directly in the spotlight every game day, but the forward can utilize this to improve his game.
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Enjoy the off-season and get back to playing capacity, and Bjelica could be a useful bench player for Thibodeau in their drive for play-off basketball.