Minnesota Sports Forum

My excitement for this team is getting ridiculous. Summer league will only heighten my feelings.This summer is going to take forever!

This has probably been posted before but it is a great read.

Seems like he will be a great addition. I am not sure how good his English is or if he knows Pek, but I think it would help him if Pek can play.

http://www.canishoopus.com/2015/4/20/8452281/almost-everything-you-should-know-about-nemanja-bjelica

bleedspeed177 wrote:This has probably been posted before but it is a great read.

Seems like he will be a great addition. I am not sure how good his English is or if he knows Pek, but I think it would help him if Pek can play.

http://www.canishoopus.com/2015/4/20/8452281/almost-everything-you-should-know-about-nemanja-bjelica

bleedspeed177 wrote:This has probably been posted before but it is a great read.

Seems like he will be a great addition. I am not sure how good his English is or if he knows Pek, but I think it would help him if Pek can play.

http://www.canishoopus.com/2015/4/20/8452281/almost-everything-you-should-know-about-nemanja-bjelica

Unbelievable, bleed...I was just about to post the same article! I generally like that author, and didn't know until now that he was also a Serb. Bjelica's upbringing sounds a lot like the story of many of the African-American NBA players...growing up in a tough environment and using basketball to stay out of trouble.

I think you're correct that Pek can help with Bjelica's transition. Even though they come from different countries, most Montenegro natives speak Serbian. I'm also guessing that since Bjelica has been playing in Turkey, he may have picked up some English along the way too.

Finally, am I the only one who has been mispronouncing Bjelica's name for a long time? When I read his name, I read (Ne man ja Be yell i ca). I feel much smarter now that I know it is really Ne man ya Be a leetz a.

Wow! What a tremendous article. It was well worth LST quoting Bleed twice, and well worth the read! (and play the 2 minute video, too)

This team is getting so damn lovable!

BizarroJerry wrote:It looks like an AB trade is looking more likely, but I fear flip will sell too low here. His cluster of pfs might bite him in the ass.

I really hope he doesn't move him. 2 of our bigs our either old or very injury prone. I don't want to run into a problem of having too few bigs again and playing college sized teams vs other nba teams. It's better to have a glut of bigs than it is to have a glut of guards. I also feel Bjelica and Bennett can play spot minutes at the SF if absolutely needed. Our 2 and 3 players also have a lot of flexibility in where they can play. Lavine SG/PG, Wiggings SG/SF, Shabazz SF/SG?, Budinger SF/SG.

I want these guys on the roster..

Rubio/Jones
Martin/Lavine
Wiggins/Bazz/Budinger
KG/Bjelica/Payne/Bennett
Pekovic / Towns / Dieng

If Martin or Rubio go down, you have plenty of minutes now for the other 5-6 guys. If KG or Pek go down, same thing. Let's not pretend we'll contend this year.

Like someone else had said, keep 1 spot open for any of these reasons: to pick-up in an emergency, to claim a talent on waivers, for trade purposes.

Hummel
Hamilton
Brown
Onoaku

They can all go. With a team in our position you hold onto all young potential. You pick up glue guys like Hummel when you're paying a few stars and are on the cusp of doing something special with little room to spend.

Not that we needed any further confirmation, but here's some anyway.

Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine
On Euro big Nemanja Bjelica, Wolves coach Flip Saunders tells NBA Insiders on @espnradio "we will bring him over" in time for next season

Now that the Wolves are openly looking to bring Bjelica over there is a rumor the Knicks are looking to do a sign and trade for him. Outside of Zingas I don't know what they could offer.

http://www.eurohoops.net/2015/06/featured/106407

TheSP wrote:Now that the Wolves are openly looking to bring Bjelica over there is a rumor the Knicks are looking to do a sign and trade for him. Outside of Zingas I don't know what they could offer.

http://www.eurohoops.net/2015/06/featured/106407

Wait, isn't Zingas supposed to be their stretch 4? They play the exact same position. My guess is that the author didn't corroborate the rumor with an inside source or is just making things up.

I'm sure a lot of teams a lot of teams would like to have Bjelica on their roster. Why should we care?

Unless they have something really desirable to trade we shouldn't.