With Joey Dorsey, DeAndre Jordan, and DeVon Hardin still on the board... they take this guy? It's my understand that he has a contract that has about 20 years left on it. Not to mention, he has stated that he does not want to play in the NBA!

Even though he would normally garner a considerable amount of interest in the first round with the incredible season he’s had, the inevitably of him staying in Europe for a considerable amount of time, along with the verbal discouragement he’s given teams from drafting him (saying that he just does not like the NBA) will almost certainly drop him to the 2nd round. 

Why even make the pick? Why not just tell everyone "Nah, we'd rather not." It was basically the same damn thing! 3 guys left on the board who could've potentially come in and been the best center on the roster immediately... and they choose someone who will probably never play a game in the NBA.

...but hey, hopefully he plays well against last Loukas Mavrokefalidis, the other great European 2nd round selection from 2006.

 

Seriously... why even make the friggin' pick? In my not-so-humble opinion, this might be the absolute worst selection the Wolves have EVER made. Why not trade the pick for some spare change, a used tooth-pick, and some pocket lint?

Because IF he changes his mind, we get one of the best centers in Europe. Is it likely? I don't know. I don't know Pekovic. Maybe what he was concerned about was being stashed on someone's bench for years - which wouldn't happen here given we have few other options at center.

This is a situation similar to what the Blazers went through with Sabonis. Sabonis eventually changed his mind, and the Blazers got several good years out of him. Throw the mid-level exception at him each year and see how he views it. It's a gamble, but so are most second round picks. If we could sign one of the best centers in Europe for several years at the mid-level, it might turn out to be one of the best moves we ever make.

I don't think DeAndre is ready for the league. Dorsey is a specialist, and DeVon Hardin is nothing earthshattering. This is a good example of the Wolves FO reaching for the stars (almost the opposite of what they did with the Love-Mayo trade) - and gambling little in the process.

But if it was me, I would have taken CDR.

LabRat:

Because IF he changes his mind, we get one of the best centers in Europe. Is it likely? I don't know. I don't know Pekovic. Maybe what he was concerned about was being stashed on someone's bench for years - which wouldn't happen here given we have few other options at center.

This is a situation similar to what the Blazers went through with Sabonis. Sabonis eventually changed his mind, and the Blazers got several good years out of him. Throw the mid-level exception at him each year and see how he views it. It's a gamble, but so are most second round picks. If we could sign one of the best centers in Europe for several years at the mid-level, it might turn out to be one of the best moves we ever make.

I don't think DeAndre is ready for the league. Dorsey is a specialist, and DeVon Hardin is nothing earthshattering. This is a good example of the Wolves FO reaching for the stars (almost the opposite of what they did with the Love-Mayo trade) - and gambling little in the process.

But if it was me, I would have taken CDR.

I would've taken DeAndre and sent him to Sioux Falls for a season of D-League experience and teaching.

 

I'm not one to hide when it appears that I'm wrong. As long as McHale isn't completely full of sh*t, then maybe this was a good selection;

 

McHale: "Pecovic has a three-year contract, but it's really a two-year contract because he can opt-out after the second year. I talked to him and he really wants to come over after those two years. His goal is to come over and play in the NBA. Kevin and Pecovic share the same agent, Jeff Schwartz. I told Jeff I'm going to have to kidnap Love if Pecovic doesn't come over here after the second year. He has come extra incentive to get him over here. I talked to Pecovic a couple of days before the draft and he wants to come over here and play. That guys (Pecovic) is a big, banging, flying guy. That guy is a horse. I went and watched him play and he put a beating on his opponents. He's 6-11, 260 pounds and is just a horse. He was a guys that we were really excited to get."

I guess any Euro these days is going to be a crap shoot. With the economy the way it is they can make more over there so they really must want to play here to come. I guess it really is about the same as any other 2nd rounder on whether they pan out in the end.  

And the thing about picking him in the 2nd round is that we're not limited in the amount of $$ we can pay him, like the first round picks are. So, we can match his lucrative Greek contract if and when he decides to come play for us.

He sounds like a total beast. I hope it works out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kZuPVqTk3ys

 It's not a hugely revealing video, but it does suggest Niko (I call first on the nickname!) is a little more aggressive on the offensive end than our last Euro center (who many still believe was our best center ever, if you don't count Al or KG). Shows nothing about his defense or passing, tho'.

 Supposedly Niko has told McHale he's going to be in the summer league and may come over after his current contract is up (2-3 years?) Weird ... I thought he didn't want to be drafted. Smokescreen?

 Also, I like that he just LOOKS mean as hell. Shaven head, muscles everywhere. It means nothing, of course, but Rasho always bugged me because if you overlooked the fact that he was 7', he looked all of ten years old.

 Yeah, as long as it's true that he's now willing to come over in a couple years, then it's probably a pretty good pick. I was just going by the reports that he had no interest in the NBA.