Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 greatest players of all-time
By Ben Beecken
player. 86. . Center. Minnesota Timberwolves. Rasho Nesterovic. 16
- Five seasons with Timberwolves (1998-2003)
- Averaged 7.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game
Right off the bat, here’s some fun Rasho trivia: Rasho Nesterovic was acquired using the first-round draft pick that the Timberwolves acquired in the Ray Allen/Stephon Marbury draft night trade.
Nesterovic played in all 82 games as a sophomore in the league after barely playing as a rookie. He averaged just 5.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 21 minutes per game that year but was a vital cog in the defensive unit alongside Kevin Garnett.
Nesterovic only cracked double-digits in scoring average once, and it was in his final year in Minnesota prior to hitting free agency. In 2002-03 (which also happened to be the last season before the Timberwolves finally cracked the seemingly impossible code that was the first round of the Western Conference playoffs), Rasho put up 11.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
Nesterovic was part of the old-guard of Timberwolves players who were on the perennial first-round-losing teams, along with No. 17 on this list, Anthony Peeler. Both players left Minnesota prior to the 2003-04 Western Conference Finals squad.
After leaving the Timberwolves, Nesterovic played three seasons with the Spurs, winning a championship in 2005. He finished his career with two seasons in Toronto, one with the Indiana Pacers, and a final year with the Raptors in 2009-10.
For the No. 17 overall pick and a player that only played in two games at the tail-end of the lockout-shortened 1998-99 campaign, Nesterovic turned in a solid all-around career, and that’s enough to place him 16th on the list of the best Wolves of all-time.