Nikola Pekovic signs 5-year, $60 million deal to stay in Minnesota

Nikola Pekovic finally landed his fat new contract this week, signing for $60 million over five years. It makes official what had been assumed for the past year: Pekovic is firmly implanted in the core of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise. There, he’s joined by Kevin Love (also making a pretty penny) and Ricky Rubio.

The question is whether that core and the orbiting supplemental pieces are good enough to make the playoffs in 2013-14.

There apparently isn’t any bad blood between Love and the Timberwolves’ new management however, as Flip Saunders told the Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda that Love was OK with Pekovic getting a longer-term deal:

At this point, that’s probably the right way to go about things for Love: He has to realize it was David Kahn, not Saunders, who negotiated his last deal -- and considering Schwartz apparently has built a solid rapport with the Wolves’ new management, there’s a good chance that Love can get the security he wants when he’s eligible for a contract extension.

Pekovic could also earn an extra $8 million if he reaches certain incentives over the course of the deal, according to Stein.

The Wolves were in ongoing negotiations for most of the summer with their restricted free agent. Previous reports indicated that Saunders had offered a four-year deal worth roughly $48 million, but Pekovic’s agent was pushing for $60 million over the same time frame. It seems the two sides met in the middle, as Pekovic will be able to earn $20 million more than the Wolves reportedly originally offered, but he’ll now be tied to the Wolves for an extra season.

Minnesota is believed to have offered Pekovic a four-year contract worth close to $50 million, and Pekovic’s camp has countered with a figure likely closer to $55 million. As he is a restricted free agent, the Timberwolves have the right to match any offer from another team. Taylor said he is “very positive” that Pekovic will be back with Minnesota next season. Here’s what Minnesota’s owner had to say during a recent interview on NBA TV (quotes via the Star-Tribune):

The 27-year-old center from Montenegro posted career-highs in points (16.3) and rebounds (8.8) per contest last season for Minnesota, and he started 62 games for the team. If the two sides don’t come together on a long-term agreement, Pekovic could still decide to sign Minnesota’s one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent after next season. That’s really the only leverage he has left, so it will be interesting to see how each party negotiates toward a long-term deal in the near future. In any case, don’t expect Pekovic to play elsewhere next season.

For the Timberwolves, this move felt inevitable from the beginning of the summer. While Pekovic could have aggressively sought out offer sheets from other teams as a restricted free agent, Minnesota’s ability to match any agreement quickly soured the market for the 27-year-old.

Barring some absolutely insane offer from another team, and we’re talking close to max money, the Timberwolves were always going to retain Pekovic this summer. Without a team looking to blow Minnesota out of the water, figuring out terms on a contract extension felt like the most likely scenario.

The offer was made on Friday and is said to be in the $12 million per year range over four years. Minnesota expects a decision on the offer early in the week.

If Pekovic decides to sign an offer sheet with another team, the Wolves have the right to match. However, there have been no such offer sheets and there aren’t many teams left who have cap space to put forth a lucrative one. Pekovic could also decide to sign Minnesota’s one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent after next season.