Nikola Pekovic

Pekovic, who was ruled out for the entirety of the 2016-17 season due to right ankle pain, has battled injuries throughout his career. He's never played more than 65 games in a single campaign and (discounting this past year) averaged 45.2 games played per season. It seems very likely that his NBA career is over, as it's doubtful that someone would take a chance on him unless it was for minimum salary. Pekovic's career numbers stand at 12.6 points (on 51.8 percent shooting) and 6.7 boards across 24.9 minutes per game. From Minnesota's perspective, the move opens up a roster spot and could allow them to pursue additional talent in the free agent market if they decide to be buyers.

Pekovic hasn't played at all this season so this inactive status isn't much of a surprise. Karl Anthony-Towns and Gorgui Dieng are doing well enough at Center and Power Forward so Minnesota is in no rush to activate Pekovic. Even when he does return he'll likely be eased back into the rotation so his playing time will be limited.

Word of this came out over the weekend when AP's Jon Krawcynski reported that he was "doubtful" to play again in the NBA. Pek has been bothered by a cranky ankle for quite some time now and always seems to be dealing with some sort of injury. Insurance will cover the Wolves' contract with Pekovic, although they may reach a buyout agreement as he has one year and about $12 million left on his deal. At 30 years old, and having only played 43 combined games over the last two seasons, it'd be surprising if Pekovich resurfaced in the NBA.

Just a few days ago we learned Pekovic wouldn't be ready for the start of training camp and now he's likely going to be released. We're unsure when and where we will see Pekovic next but this is a guy who can still be productive on the offensive side of the ball. Just in 2013-'14 he averaged over 17 points per game. He's not that type of player, but he definitely can give a team a spark off of the bench seeing how he's still just 30-years old.