Minnesota Sports Forum

As the roster seems to be getting longer, leaner and more athletic where does he fit? He looks like the exact opposite of everything this roster is shaping up to be.
Is there any possibility we see him on a different team before the start of the season?

He fits well as probably the Wolves best player right now and its nice to have a strong beast with the athletes. Possibility of him. Being moved before the season? Very low. If Flip was going to fire sale guys or whatever Brewer would have been in the Cavs trade. If Dieng actually emerges this season and looks like he will actually be a legit starting C then maybe they move Pek next offseason. Dieng needs to show more than that stretch he had last year before we go moving Pek. If LaVine Dieng and Wiggins play well this year and look like the future (or take over starting) starters then the Wolves will have some interesting vet pieces in Martin and Pek. That's a good problem to have and hopefully it works out that way but its a pretty optimistic view.

I like the idea of Pek, Martin, and Brewer on this team. It is something we didn't have during past rebuilds. All have been proven to be starters at some point in this league. All have been good teammates.

I would like to see Pek traded for a starting shooting Sg, assuming theres one out there. Im willing to throw Dieng into the fire if it means Martin can be this teams sixth man. Plus Turiaf looked like a solid backup center last year. As big of brute as Pek is said to be he really plays soft. Id give anything to see him do away with those lil bunny layups ( that he misses all the time) and maybe show some balls and dunk on someone. Thats the kind of fire Turiaf shows when hes out there.

PorkChop wrote:I would like to see Pek traded for a starting shooting Sg, assuming theres one out there. Im willing to throw Dieng into the fire if it means Martin can be this teams sixth man. Plus Turiaf looked like a solid backup center last year. As big of brute as Pek is said to be he really plays soft. Id give anything to see him do away with those lil bunny layups ( that he misses all the time) and maybe show some balls and dunk on someone. Thats the kind of fire Turiaf shows when hes out there.

Why trade for a SG when we have Martin and LaVine?

Pek is not soft he plays very smart basketball he knows what he can do and he sticks to that. He also isn't a goon and I like that about him. I don't want my starting center being the enforcer type. Bring some crappy bench player in to do that stuff. You don't get to the line like he does and averaging almost 4 offensive rebounds a game by being soft. I'll take Pek's over 50% shooting and solid FT rate and he also his his FTs.

Also Turiaf is just as much of an injury liability as Pek and Martin. You can't expect him to be in your rotation the entire year. He will miss a chunk of games.

monsterpile wrote:

PorkChop wrote:I would like to see Pek traded for a starting shooting Sg, assuming theres one out there. Im willing to throw Dieng into the fire if it means Martin can be this teams sixth man. Plus Turiaf looked like a solid backup center last year. As big of brute as Pek is said to be he really plays soft. Id give anything to see him do away with those lil bunny layups ( that he misses all the time) and maybe show some balls and dunk on someone. Thats the kind of fire Turiaf shows when hes out there.

Why trade for a SG when we have Martin and LaVine?

Pek is not soft he plays very smart basketball he knows what he can do and he sticks to that. He also isn't a goon and I like that about him. I don't want my starting center being the enforcer type. Bring some crappy bench player in to do that stuff. You don't get to the line like he does and averaging almost 4 offensive rebounds a game by being soft. I'll take Pek's over 50% shooting and solid FT rate and he also his his FTs.

Also Turiaf is just as much of an injury liability as Pek and Martin. You can't expect him to be in your rotation the entire year. He will miss a chunk of games.

I think theres a big difference between goonery ( new word alert) and playing with an edge. I havent seen that edge from Pek.
As far as Lavine goes I just see a player thats very raw. He may need a couple years to blossom. As far as Martin goes Im not even sure he'll be around after the 23rd. If he is I think his best role is off the bench.

Also what happens if Dieng becomes a good player but not quite good enough to be a starter kinda like the impact player Birdman is/was? That would be great next to Pek and filling in for him when he gets injured.

I think as soon as Love said he wanted out (around June 15th?), they should have sent Pek with either Brewer or Bud (their choice) to TOR for Salmons/Johnson/Hansbrough. TOR beats the Nets if they had Pek, and all three of those guys had voidable deals that MIN could have exercised or traded to other teams and gotten picks/assets. Look what ATL gave up for the honor of voiding Salmons. And if no one wanted Johnson/Hansbrough, there are worse things than having those two on your team for a year.

As far as a lot of BSPN "experts" thinking MIN will be worst in the west, a few things:
1. Who cares? Games are settled on the court.
2. Would it really be that bad? They are going to need players for this rebuild.
3. Who is going to notice? The Mild won a playoff series and just signed another athlete dying to play in Minneapolis (who knew?), so not a lot of people will be paying attention.

monsterpile wrote:Also what happens if Dieng becomes a good player but not quite good enough to be a starter kinda like the impact player Birdman is/was? That would be great next to Pek and filling in for him when he gets injured.

If Dieng is the lesser player offensively but the much better defensive player I'd say he'd be perfect starter material for this team. Peks deficiencies as a paint protecter make him a borderline starter in my eyes. Plus it'll be interesting to see how his game translates without Love pulling bigs out to the perimeter. I know I'm in the minority but after this year I see Peks trade value being nil.

Pek's not going anywhere -- at least for another year. Flip wants to remain at least marginally competitive and isn't going to give up a productive vet who can give the team close to 20 and 10 per game. With Love's departure, the Wolves will need Pek's rebounding more than ever. Pek and Al Jefferson are probably the League's best low-post scorers. Pek will help create mid-range shooting space for Wiggins and others by attracting attention in the paint. He will be someone opposing teams have to focus on so they can't simply target our talented younger players like Wiggins.

So Pek is staying and I think that's a good thing. Hopefully, some of the steps the team's medical staff is taking this summer to protect Pek's ankles will pay off and allow Pek to play more games.