Bjelica Close

[Phenom]

I think it was on Bump today that Flip said something along the lines of 15 mpg for Pek. The good news is that he is probably going to be ok with that from the standpoint that he is concerned with his long term health.

[Papalrep]

I don't believe Bjelica is being brought over as trade bait. He will play more minutes than either Payne or Bennett, because he's better. I think Flip looking to move Payne or Bennett, but no panic involved - plenty of time. I am happy Namanja is coming, he is an upgrade or Payne, Bennett, and Hummel

[Volans19]

I don't believe Bjelica is being brought over as trade bait. He will play more minutes than either Payne or Bennett, because he's better. I think Flip looking to move Payne or Bennett, but no panic involved - plenty of time. I am happy Namanja is coming, he is an upgrade or Payne, Bennett, and Hummel

I agree.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Jesus, some of you guys think Pek is already done? I knew he had injury problems, but yeesh. That will obviously open up minutes, but that's really too bad.

I still think Bennett needs to go. Either Bennett or Payne, and I see more of a role for Payne (who should get to at least compete with Bjelica for minutes at the 4). There just isn't enough room for them to get playing time and I don't see those two (especially Bennett because of his draft position and age) accepting collecting DNP-CDs while serving as bench insurance in terms of injury.

[60WinTim]

On Pek, the surgery he underwent was described as "a last resort procedure". We should get an update on how he's doing in the next week or two. So it would be foolish to assume he will play again.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

On Pek, the surgery he underwent was described as "a last resort procedure". We should get an update on how he's doing in the next week or two. So it would be foolish to assume he will play again.

Maybe I was in denial! I don't remember it being that dire. I will miss PEK SMASH!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

On Pek, the surgery he underwent was described as "a last resort procedure". We should get an update on how he's doing in the next week or two. So it would be foolish to assume he will play again.

Maybe I was in denial! I don't remember it being that dire. I will miss PEK SMASH!

Ha, I'm solidly in denial about Pek too! But I do think there are some reasons to be optimistic. I recognize that surgeries are always called "successful" (you never see a report saying "player X had unsuccessful surgery yesterday"!), but I found the news the day after Pek's surgery to be especially promising. First, they didn't know what they were going to find when they went in there, and pre-surgery had said they may have to repair the tendon. As it turns out, the tendon was just fine when they took a closer look and didn't need to be repaired. This has to shorten the recovery time. But more importantly, they discovered bone growths that were rubbing against the tendon, causing Pek a great deal of pain. They shaved this bone down, with the hypothesis that would eliminate the foot pain Pek has experienced for several years. I always thought Pek was a pussy with all his games lost to "foot pain", but actually it may have been the opposite...it sounds like Pek has played through foot pain at times that might have sidelined a less tough player.

I'm not totally in denial about Pek's health. There are other issues that are going to sideline him from time to time. But I am optimistic that he may have fixed his most recurring problem. You only have to look at Kevin Martin to see that recurring injuries can disappear in a 30 year old player. In 2012, Martin was perceived as a guy whose knees were so damaged that he would always miss a lot of games every year. But in the past three years, his knee issues have been non-existent. Last year he missed a lot of games with a broken wrist, but it was an injury that would have sidelined any player (and he scored 40 in the game where he broke it!). The two previous seasons he played 77 and 68 games...not bad at all for a player in his young 30s. Let's hope that Pek's foot issues are similar to Martin's knee issues...gone.

[Carlos Danger]

On Pek, the surgery he underwent was described as "a last resort procedure". We should get an update on how he's doing in the next week or two. So it would be foolish to assume he will play again.

I'm kind of in this camp. The same could be said with KG. A lot of people are assuming they will be starters/big contributors. That could happen. But both guys could pull a Ronnie Turiaf type year too. We won't know until when (if) we start seeing these guys out on the floor.

[Lipoli390]

I think Flip is hoping that he can get 15-20 minutes from Pek this next season. I certainly don't see him getting more than 20. But I also think the front office has serious doubts about whether Pek will be able to contribute anything. We may have a Brandon Roy retirement situation on our hands.

Here's where the ghost of David Kahn still haunts us. If Pek doesn't retire, but can't contribute decent minutes even on a limited basis, we are stuck with a big untradable contract for 3 more seasons. That's a $12 million cap hit each of those seasons. Short of retirement, the only mechanism for getting Pek's salary off the cap count would be the one-time amnesty option in the CBA. Unfortunately, Kahn already used it on Darko when Kahn was desperately trying to clear cap space to sign Roy and make his meaningless offer to Batum.

As I said at the time, the Darko signing was one of the most idiotic moves I've ever seen in professional sports. Darko was already a well-established bust and no other NBA team wanted the guy. He was about to go back to Europe before Kahn jumped in and gave him a multi-year $5 million per year guaranteed contract.

So nice to have Flip in charge! I had my doubts about Flip at the beginning, but he's proven himself and then some as head of basketball ops. I may not agree with everything he has done (Payne trade and selling pick #27 two years ago), but I am confident that all his decisions are well grounded in solid analysis and thorough research. And I have a lot of confidence in his judgment.

[Monster]

I am a big Pek fan and I have some opTIM-DOUGism that he can play 50 games for 20 or so minutes (sounds like he will start out with 15-20) this season. As it was said the surgery actually was much more positive that expected going in and I am not fooling myself thinking it's all good from here on out but it went from maybe career ending to a little sliver of hope that one problem was taken care of at least for a while. I never have though Pek was a wuss I think he and the wolves have been smart and careful with his health and even doing that hasn't been able to keep him healthy which is a shame. If nothing else it would be nice to have him healthy enough that Towns and Dieng have to practice against him so they can work on holding their one against big post defenders. If they can manage decently against Pek they will be alright. I also realize Pek's career could effectively be over. He is a large man and not getting younger and he plays a certain way which has probably led to a few injuries and the fact is he hasn't been able to stay healthy for multiple reasons. I'm hopping for the reasonable best but also ready for the worst.