Nikola Pekovic agrees to join T'Wolves
Here's the Google translate result:
"According to an assistant coach of the Wolves, Nikola Peković (2.10m, 24 years) have agreed to join the Minnesota next season. The Montenegrin officer confirmed that both parties were negotiating, but denied any agreement."
If you don't remember, Pekovic was the consensus 1st pick of the 2nd round the year we traded three 2nds for Asik. His numbers look like Al Jefferson's. And in old-but-buried news, KC has Asik coming over too, though Asik's Euroleague numbers (small sample size) are down after his knee injury.
about 2 years ago
YaoPau
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Good for them.
Jefferson at next year’s break for Luol Deng if the Bulls get Lebron James???
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Minnesota could have...
Flynn
Turner
Deng
Love
Pekovic
Bulls could have
Rose
Anderson
James
Jefferson
Noah
I’m not sure I like Jefferson, but it’s just a thought.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
I don't want Jefferson anywhere near this team.
Jeff Van Gundy '10
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Because he's injury prone, overrated, doesn't pass and is an inefficient scorer?
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions
C'mon, he's not THAT injury-prone.
Not compared to the injury prone, over paid player the Bulls would be trading for him. I think they’re similar players, except one scores more efficiently and the other would fit more of a “need”.
I don’t know how it would work out. Would I rather have Deng at SF/PF and James at SF/PF or James at SF and Jefferson at PF?
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
I'd question if he's any of those things
The ACL is obviously a questionmark, but we’ve seen players come back from it without problems (Baron Davis, Al Harrington) and Jefferson’s numbers were the same this year as before the injury. That aside, Al has barely been hurt. Since the start of 2007, his only other injury was a bruise that cost him six games two years ago.
His AST% this year was 10.0%. Noah’s was 10.8%. Jefferson’s AST% has improved every year of his career.
As for inefficient scorer, his close non-dunk FG% this year was a freakish 63%! Maybe he’s not an efficient scorer with a 27 USG%, but next to LeBron/Rose he’d be deadly.
I don’t love Jefferson, but I’d rate him at least as high as Amare or Boozer considering he’s 25 and makes less than the max.
Plus he gets his number in Minnesota
Where he won’t get great passes and doesn’t have guys to spread the floor. You double him you win the game
by JustAnotherFan on May 13, 2010 2:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Noah doesn't draw doubles like Jefferson does. Jefferson has way more opportunities TO pass, but he doesn't.
I don’t give a crap what his close non-dunk FG% is, he’s a guy who plays right under the basket and his TS% is a terrible .535 for his career and it was even worse this year at .524.
Oh and that’s without mentioning that he’s one of the absolute worst defensive big men I’ve ever seen. He’s David Lee bad. Noah is a good help defender and at hedging on pick and rolls, but Noah is a below average post defender and Al Jeff is bad at EVERYTHING on defense. The Bulls interior defense would be much worse with Al Jeff logging significant minutes.
PLUS as we’re seeing with Shaq, having an immobile, slow big man parked on the block harms LeBron’s game. It clogs up the lane and makes things much harder for him. When the Cavs go small with LeBron at PF, they dominate. It’s because LeBron works best when the court is spread. The same goes for Rose. Jefferson would really hurt the spacing, unless they installed the triangle and Jefferson learned to pass. But he was in the triangle this year in Minnesota and still didn’t pass.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I think there's a difference between Jefferson and a 38 year old Shaq
Kobe has Gasol and Bynum and he gets to the rim just fine. Dwyane Wade had a slightly younger Shaq and got to the rim just fine.
The reason Jefferson’s TS% is bad is because he takes a lot of jumpshots and isn’t good at it. It’s part of the high usage thing. Gasol went from .570 TS% to .600 TS% when his usage dropped joining the Lakers (jumpshots make up 10% less of his attempts than they used to). Jermaine O’Neal went from .500 TS% to .563 when he joined the Heat. So I think you should give a crap what Jefferson’s close% is, since we’d be getting him to take those shots.
Defensively, who really knows. If he’s as bad as you say then he isn’t worth it. But unlike David Lee he has all the tools to be good: he’s 6’10" in shoes, with a 7’2.5" wingspan, a 9’2" standing reaching, that’s good size for a PF. Unlike Boozer he blocks shots, unlike Amare he rebounds well, and his 4-year dAPM was -1.54, not awful. Just looking at everything tangible there’s a lot to like, and I wonder if his bad defense reputation stems somewhat from playing next to Kevin Love, Craig Smith, and Ryan Gomes inside (wow that’s a bad defensive interior haha). Any missed rotation really shows.
That’s all to say that I agree with you (Deng’s probably better and all this is moot), but I think we at least consider the deal. Hell, we’ve waited 10 years for an inside scorer, and finally here’s a 25 year old who does it well.
Synergy shows him to be as bad a defender as his reputation suggests. He SUCKS on that end.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions
So you look at one unresearched stat and proclaim he sucks?
You’re turning into Wayne Winston. Chuck Hayes is at 0.90 on Synergy, putting him in the bottom 3rd among big men.
by YaoPau on May 13, 2010 3:40 PM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
I have watched him play quite a bit, too. Jesus, don't resort to ad hominem attacks.
You’re wrong about Big Al. He stinks and I’m sorry that you can’t accept it.
Adjusted plus minus shows that he’s a bad defender. Synergy shows that he’s bad at every single category of defense. My own eyes also show that he’s fucking terrible. You’re being ridiculous.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 3:54 PM CDT up reply actions
I watched him play a TON in Boston when he was there, because I lived there at the time.
He was really, really awful on defense.
I’ve watched him play some in Minnesota too, trying to figure out why people like him so much and I just don’t see it. He’s really freaking awful. Every game I’ve seen of him, he’s been a total sieve.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 4:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Same here.
Not a fan of Jefferson at all.
Metal sharpens metal.
And this guy right here understands and knows what leadership is all about: The coach, the hall of famer......... Dick Butka! George Ryan
The Bulls shrink like a dick in cold water.
He's consistently overrated. It shocks me that people that usually have their heads on straight have any desire
to have Jefferson on this roster. He stinks. He’s pretty much only “good” at offense and he doesn’t score efficiently, doesn’t pass, and he’s a terrible offensive rebounder, so it’s questionable how good he even is on that end. The best thing you can say about him is that he uses a lot of possessions and doesn’t turn it over much. He’s a total apocalypse on defense. So where’s the quality there? He sucks.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions
I understand your concerns about Jefferson
But if we sign Lebron, I think we’re still better off trading Deng for Jefferson. We’re a better defensive team with Jefferson at the 4 than Deng or Lebron there, as either one will get absolutely dominated by any legitimate PF. As YaoPau said, his efficiency will go up on a team with Lebron and Rose, and his passing won’t be as big of an issue since he’ll see fewer double teams on a team with Lebron and Rose.
Brad Miller is god.
I doubt it. LeBron or Lu at the 4 would still be better defenders than Al Jeff.
Jefferson is an absolute sieve on that end. He has no idea about defensive fundamentals. LeBron and Lu are both built like PFs. 6’9" with crazy long wingspans. They’d be better on offense with those guys, too, because they could spread the floor with LeBron or Lu on the perimeter and have Derrick or LeBron penetrate. Again, look at what the Cavs do when they go small. They dominate. Rose, Hinrich, Deng, LeBron, and Noah would crush most teams on both ends. Noah, Deng, LeBron and Hinrich are all varying levels of good to awesome on defense and Rose is getting better. That team would have no problems scoring the ball, except maybe they’d need someone that’s a bit better shooter where Hinrich plays, but still. That roster would be better than one with Jefferson clogging the middle on offense and letting PFs score at will on him on the other end.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 3:35 PM CDT up reply actions
The Cavs dominate going small against the Bulls
They struggle against the teams with legit big men, like the Lakers or the Magic, which is why they made the Shaq trade. Deng/Lebron would be fine at the 4 against almost every team in the league, but they’d get destroyed in the post by guys like Duncan or Gasol. That’s what I’m worried about. Jefferson might not be the answer either, but if we got Lebron, I’m looking to move Deng for some type of legitimate big man.
Brad Miller is god.
No, the Cavs dominate in general when they go small. Look at their season long numbers with the small lineup.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 5:50 PM CDT up reply actions
What stat should I look at?
APM? Not even close to a large enough sample size. And I agree that they’re fine going small against most NBA teams. The exceptions are the teams that have dominant old-school post players, which is pretty much just the Lakers, Spurs, andMagic. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to prove that point with stats, since against those teams, Mike Brown never went small, if you look at the gameflows on popcornmachine.net.
Brad Miller is god.
by Poloplaya14 on May 13, 2010 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't like the fit.
If we get Lebron, I’d like an athletic power forward, not a plodder like Al. With Rose and Lebron, I would like to see a team feast in transition, not settle into the half court and try to Cleveland it’s way through the playoffs. Id rather acquire Paul Millsap than go after Jefferson. I’d go as far to say that Amir Johnson would be a better fit than Jefferson. He’d be far cheaper and can actually get better. Much better.
Metal sharpens metal.
And this guy right here understands and knows what leadership is all about: The coach, the hall of famer......... Dick Butka! George Ryan
The Bulls shrink like a dick in cold water.
Amir Johnson is pretty good...
Like Carl Landry good…the Bulls would be okay with him in the mix alongside GIbson and Noah…(presuming the Bulls land Lebron or Wade).
Thomas, Miller, Salmons, James, Pargo, Gray, MLE, and (there is no LLE thanks to the Pargo signing) will not be here with a Max Free Agent...don't get too attached.
He just needs the minutes of Landry…
Thomas, Miller, Salmons, James, Pargo, Gray, MLE, and (there is no LLE thanks to the Pargo signing) will not be here with a Max Free Agent...don't get too attached.
but you'll have the second most athletic center in the league
or whatever noah would be. If you’re running fast breaks, it’s not the end of the world to have one guy back since, you know, it’s rarely a 5 on 4 fast break or whatever anyway. And if the ball stops and goes into half-court, well…
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
You're right, in that having Al wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I'd rather have a different type of player.
Look at what Shaq has done to Lebron’s game. He’s filled up the paint and made it tougher to penetrate. That would screw with Rose’s game as well. I just would like a guy that can move around a little bit play the 4 and not clog up the lane. Hell, we could get Channing Frye and then settle for a lesser shooting guard.
There’s also the fact that I don’t think Al is that good, offensively or defensively. I side with fundamentally sound, he just doesn’t pass the eye test for me.
What would we do on defense against a team with a good 4? Noah’s quick, but not good enough to stick and Amare or a Gasol. Jefferson is even less equipped for the task.
Metal sharpens metal.
And this guy right here understands and knows what leadership is all about: The coach, the hall of famer......... Dick Butka! George Ryan
The Bulls shrink like a dick in cold water.
Yeah, um... Amare and Gasol destroy everyone.
Jefferson would get his, too.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
I don't think so.
I guess we just differ on how good we think Jefferson is. I think that he’s gonna be much less effective in a couple of years. He already moves like a sloth, and he’s just 25. I’m not a fan, at all. Especially at 13-15 million annually for the next three years.
Metal sharpens metal.
And this guy right here understands and knows what leadership is all about: The coach, the hall of famer......... Dick Butka! George Ryan
The Bulls shrink like a dick in cold water.
I'm shocked that you're so sure of yourself
He’s been buried on bad teams his whole career, playing out of position and having to be a #1 option that he’s not.
Terrible offensive rebounder? He was 7th best in basketball in 2007, 8th best in 2008. Then Kevin Love came aboard as the league’s best offensive rebounder, and Jefferson’s numbers are down a bit expected. There’s only one ball.
Thing is, I don’t know and neither do you. But all the numbers and measurements show that he probably doesn’t suck. And there’s no evidence that he’s better or worse than Amare/Boozer/Lee/Randolph, any of those types.
He's been part of the problem on those bad teams. He's one of the worst defensive big men in the entire league.
He’s a ball stopper and he’s an inefficient scorer. Everything I know about basketball suggests that Al Jefferson is fool’s gold. He’s Zach Randolph without the strip club lovin’.
by fundamentallysound on May 13, 2010 3:56 PM CDT up reply actions
And Zach Randolph was pretty alright this year.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
i'm starting to wonder what kind of money Wesley Matthews will get
if we really did get LeBron (or LeBron and AlJeff) wouldn’t Matthews be a pretty sweet fit? He’s young but not too young (23 year old, 4 year guy that fits right in with everyone else on the team), defends, tries really hard, and wouldn’t ever have to create his own shot with Rose and LeBron. He seemed to play pretty well with Deron Williams. And he’s already had a year under a great coach in Sloan. If he’s a cheaper option, he could be interesting.
My only problem with him
is that he is not very solid on 3s. We need solid 3s
by JustAnotherFan on May 13, 2010 2:33 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm sure the timberwolves fanbase
is hoping that “Nikola Pekovic” is an alias for one “Ricky Rubio”.
Vinny: "[Thrust] means pace, it means getting the ball out, it means getting your back to the sidelines, it means extending your outlets, it means getting the ball up the court into our early offense with plenty of time."
Omer Asik...
If he comes over this Summer, he will have to be signed with cap space (or MLE if the Bulls don’t use cap space to sign free agent). At this time, I am not sold on having an unproven foreign big come over at the cost of potentially signing a known commodity (Morrow) who will command similar money.
Thomas, Miller, Salmons, James, Pargo, Gray, MLE, and (there is no LLE thanks to the Pargo signing) will not be here with a Max Free Agent...don't get too attached.
Morrow will probably cost more than Asik.
And playing for Golden State is virtually equivalent to playing in Europe, anyways.
Brad Miller is god.
You think...?
I would be surprised if Asik accepted much less than MLE to come over while I do not expect Morrow to command that type of salary…
Thomas, Miller, Salmons, James, Pargo, Gray, MLE, and (there is no LLE thanks to the Pargo signing) will not be here with a Max Free Agent...don't get too attached.
Oh he should be less than the MLE
Marc Gasol was in a similar situation and signed for $3.3ish mil per year, and Gasol was more established. I’d guess Asik’s starting salary is around half the MLE.
by YaoPau on May 13, 2010 5:07 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
I don't how Gasol was more established...
Granted, I don’t watch foreign basketball very often…but it Asik was drafted higher…
Thomas, Miller, Salmons, James, Pargo, Gray, MLE, and (there is no LLE thanks to the Pargo signing) will not be here with a Max Free Agent...don't get too attached.
I think it was after or right before the Olympics when everyone was signing his praises.
He came over a year after being drafted and greatly improved in that year. Lost a lot of weight, played with the SPanish National team, etc.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Gasol won his league's MVP
over Tiago Splitter and notably did well against him during a late season matchup (link here with Dalibor Bagaric and Gregor Fucka references).
From what I’ve seen, Asik hasn’t done much of anything in the past two years. He had the knee injury that cost him most of last season, and a broken collarbone cost him two months of this season.
We're competing against 29 teams for Morrow's services, including one that can match any offer
We have Asik’s exclusive NBA rights, and he’s expressed the desire to come to the NBA, I believe. I think Morrow gets at least a 4 year deal starting at at least $5 mil. Asik will get a little less than what the Grizzlies got Marc Gasol for, which is about $3 mil.
Brad Miller is god.
by Poloplaya14 on May 13, 2010 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
With his injuries, Asik would be foolish not to come over for almost whatever th eBulls would offer.
He doesn’t want to risk another serious injury and never be brought over.
In the past 10 years, just four team owners have not paid a luxury tax and are not on pace to pay one this year: Donald Sterling, Jerry Reinsdorf, Chris Cohen (Golden State), Bob Johnson (Charlotte).
Two owners’ teams averaged an operating income of over +$10 million per year while their teams have lost over 60% of their games: Donald Sterling and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Jefferson doesn’t pass my eye test. He just camps out on the block. We want space to run and space for Rose to penetrate. Jefferson would just be in the way. And yes he is terrible at all aspects of defense. No ifs and or buts. We’d be better off with an athletic 4 like Amare or Bosh. Jefferson is too much of a plodder, he reminds me of Elton Brand with the Sixers. Slow…explosion is missing…someone who is just in the way.
Amir Johnson will never be as good as Landry….first off he is one of the most foulingest players in the league. And he’s thin as hell. Landry is short but thick so he can score inside. Johnson came out pretty strong as the year went on but he is way behind Landry as far as skill
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