Minnesota Sports Forum

BizarroJerry wrote:What's the Pek status again? One more year at 11 million? Geez, what a bad decision that was. And do the wolves have any recourse here or is Pek able to keep collecting if he's 'eligible' to play?

longstrangetrip wrote:Yep, those are the two biggest unresolved issues that it would be nice to more about soon. Here are my thoughts.

Garnett: It's frustrating that there has been such limited contact with KG this spring/summer. I understand they are dealing with his mother-in-law's illness, but that doesn't preclude Thibs and KG meeting somewhere in a gym for a workout and discussion. Although I'm frustrated, I definitely want KG back if he is near the health level he was at at the beginning of last season. Even at 39, he was easily our best plus/minus player in the few games he played in, and both our offense and defense looked more effective when he was on the court. If he could give us 15-20 MPG, we would be a better team. Maybe Thibs knows more about KG than he is letting on, but if not, he needs to hop on a plane and have some face-to-face contact.

Pek: I have been optimistic about Pek playing this year because of the positive comments Arnie Kander made last February...he was confident Pek would not be hampered next year by the injury that sidelined him most of the past two years. But I heard something from a friend (not connected in any way with the Timberwolves) last week that has me thinking otherwise. Thibs was looking for a downtown condo a month ago, and was introduced to my friend who lives at the Carlyle (the same building Pek lives in and where Love lived when he was here). My friend is a big sports fan, and he and Thibs talked for a hour...said he was a great guy. Most of what my friend heard was the same as we have all heard (best young core in the league, need to be better defensively, etc), except for one thing. When my friend asked him what he was expecting from Pek, Thibs said "Pek is done"...that's it, nothing else. It sounded surprisingly definitive coming from a guy who has mastered the art of revealing little. I actually wasn't too disappointed, because Pek was terrible last year in the few games he played in. There are only 2 more years left on his contract, and I don't think that $24 million is going to limit the Wolves' plans. Eat the contract and be happy to have the cap space in 2018-9.

monsterpile wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:What's the Pek status again? One more year at 11 million? Geez, what a bad decision that was. And do the wolves have any recourse here or is Pek able to keep collecting if he's 'eligible' to play?

Actually it's $12,100,000 for 2016-2017 and $11,600,000 for 2017-2018.

He could retire or they could do a buyout. I'm not sure they have any other options right now.

Also of the unresolved issues I think Adrian Payne should be part of this conversation. He makes about as much difference towards what happens with the roster as either of KG or Pek but the difference is he is healthy but he hasn't shown he is actually worth having on the court. His cost in terms of contract for the upcoming season (just over 2 million) isn't as high so he could easily just be cut if they find him worthless or want a better player. I hold out a little hope he could still be a useful deep bench player with some good Thibs coaching but I'm staying away from being too optimistic. Lol

lipoli390 wrote:I see two major unresolved personnel issues for the Wolves this summer. One is the status of Kevin Garnett. The other is the health status of Pek. It seems to me that both issues have at least some bearing on what the Wolves do this summer, including the draft, free agency and possible trades.

Personally I will KG would retire. But I don't think he will. It's a bit irritating that he hasn't even met with Thibs. That's classic KG. I like the way he plays, but he's a diva of the first order off the court. He talks about loyalty. Well, how about resolving his status sooner rather than later to help this organization make some key decisions over the summer? As for Pek, there's really nothing Pek can do. If he feels good physically, then hard to blame him for giving it another go. He's certainly not likely to give up $24 million prematurely.

I think the Wolves have to move forward as if neither KG nor Pek will be contributing anything next season. If KG doesn't retire, the Wolves organization should assume he's planted on the end of the bench as a quasi-coach. If he's needed on the court because of injuries, then you get from him what you can. Same with Pek. Assume he's on the roster but not contributing on the court. This assumption regarding both players should open the door to considering things like signing Noah, Horford or Cole Aldridge as free agents or trading down and drafting Sabonis.

Thoughts?

lipoli390 wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:What's the Pek status again? One more year at 11 million? Geez, what a bad decision that was. And do the wolves have any recourse here or is Pek able to keep collecting if he's 'eligible' to play?

Two more years at $12 per year.

TeamRicky wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I see two major unresolved personnel issues for the Wolves this summer. One is the status of Kevin Garnett. The other is the health status of Pek. It seems to me that both issues have at least some bearing on what the Wolves do this summer, including the draft, free agency and possible trades.

Personally I will KG would retire. But I don't think he will. It's a bit irritating that he hasn't even met with Thibs. That's classic KG. I like the way he plays, but he's a diva of the first order off the court. He talks about loyalty. Well, how about resolving his status sooner rather than later to help this organization make some key decisions over the summer? As for Pek, there's really nothing Pek can do. If he feels good physically, then hard to blame him for giving it another go. He's certainly not likely to give up $24 million prematurely.

I think the Wolves have to move forward as if neither KG nor Pek will be contributing anything next season. If KG doesn't retire, the Wolves organization should assume he's planted on the end of the bench as a quasi-coach. If he's needed on the court because of injuries, then you get from him what you can. Same with Pek. Assume he's on the roster but not contributing on the court. This assumption regarding both players should open the door to considering things like signing Noah, Horford or Cole Aldridge as free agents or trading down and drafting Sabonis.

Thoughts?

lipoli390 wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:What's the Pek status again? One more year at 11 million? Geez, what a bad decision that was. And do the wolves have any recourse here or is Pek able to keep collecting if he's 'eligible' to play?

Two more years at $12 per year.

What a Diva! LOL

lipoli390 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:Yep, those are the two biggest unresolved issues that it would be nice to more about soon. Here are my thoughts.

Garnett: It's frustrating that there has been such limited contact with KG this spring/summer. I understand they are dealing with his mother-in-law's illness, but that doesn't preclude Thibs and KG meeting somewhere in a gym for a workout and discussion. Although I'm frustrated, I definitely want KG back if he is near the health level he was at at the beginning of last season. Even at 39, he was easily our best plus/minus player in the few games he played in, and both our offense and defense looked more effective when he was on the court. If he could give us 15-20 MPG, we would be a better team. Maybe Thibs knows more about KG than he is letting on, but if not, he needs to hop on a plane and have some face-to-face contact.

Pek: I have been optimistic about Pek playing this year because of the positive comments Arnie Kander made last February...he was confident Pek would not be hampered next year by the injury that sidelined him most of the past two years. But I heard something from a friend (not connected in any way with the Timberwolves) last week that has me thinking otherwise. Thibs was looking for a downtown condo a month ago, and was introduced to my friend who lives at the Carlyle (the same building Pek lives in and where Love lived when he was here). My friend is a big sports fan, and he and Thibs talked for a hour...said he was a great guy. Most of what my friend heard was the same as we have all heard (best young core in the league, need to be better defensively, etc), except for one thing. When my friend asked him what he was expecting from Pek, Thibs said "Pek is done"...that's it, nothing else. It sounded surprisingly definitive coming from a guy who has mastered the art of revealing little. I actually wasn't too disappointed, because Pek was terrible last year in the few games he played in. There are only 2 more years left on his contract, and I don't think that $24 million is going to limit the Wolves' plans. Eat the contract and be happy to have the cap space in 2018-9.

Great information on Pek. Thibs is a pretty conservative guy so I don't think he'd say that if he wasn't sure. If that's the case, you have to hope Pek retires on the assumption that he has an insurance policy that could cover the amount left on his contract. But I doubt he'd have that kind of full coverage so I don't see him retiring. And I don't think a buy-out makes much sense since I doubt we'd save much. Pek has no incentive to settle for less than 100%.

Therefore, I think the best approach for the Wolves is to simply keep him on the restor unless/until he retires. If he doesn't retire, then he'd have trade value as an expiring contract a year from now. In the meantime, he would just occupy the 15th roster spot at the end of the bench. No real harm. The key is knowing that he's "done" because then there's no reason to shy away from pursuing another big in the draft or through free agency.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:What's the Pek status again? One more year at 11 million? Geez, what a bad decision that was. And do the wolves have any recourse here or is Pek able to keep collecting if he's 'eligible' to play?

Actually it's $12,100,000 for 2016-2017 and $11,600,000 for 2017-2018.

He could retire or they could do a buyout. I'm not sure they have any other options right now.

Also of the unresolved issues I think Adrian Payne should be part of this conversation. He makes about as much difference towards what happens with the roster as either of KG or Pek but the difference is he is healthy but he hasn't shown he is actually worth having on the court. His cost in terms of contract for the upcoming season (just over 2 million) isn't as high so he could easily just be cut if they find him worthless or want a better player. I hold out a little hope he could still be a useful deep bench player with some good Thibs coaching but I'm staying away from being too optimistic. Lol

Good point about considering what to do with Payne. I don't consider him an issue because, as you noted, he has such a small contract -- only one more season at around $2 million. I'm hoping we can and do trade him this summer for a 2nd round pick. (No way we'd get a 1st round pick for him). Payne looks brain dead to me and I don't see any coach turning him around. In fact, I think he'll frustrate the heck out of Thibs. I look at the Payne trade as Flip's one big blunder. I think he might have been blinded a bit by his friendship with Izzo. Yet, I still suspect he was acting on the recommendation of someone else in the front office. I based that on my conversation with Flip before the 2014 draft. When I asked him who he was interested in with our #13 pick he gave me two names -- LaVine and Stauskus. He never mentioned Payne. And I seem to recall something in Flip's explanation for the deal that suggested he was acting on internal recommendations. I think Flip said "our scouts really like him." It was very different from what Flip said when he personally liked a player, in which case he typically said "I really like him" or "he really impressed me" etc.