The Minnesota Timberwolves agreed to terms with restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic on a solid five-year, $60 million contract on Wednesday, locking up their center for his prime years. The fact that Pekovic was given a five-year deal drew the ire of some, however, after his agent wasn't able to get the same security for All-Star teammate Kevin Love.
Kevin Love happy with Nikola Pekovic’s new contract, Flip Saunders says
Kevin Love has been outspoken regarding his displeasure that the Wolves wouldn’t give him a five-year extension when he was eligible, but he’s apparently fine with teammate Nikola Pekovic receiving that sort of security.
Craig Mitchelldyer-US PRESSWIRE
Along with sharing the same frontcourt in Minneapolis, Pekovic and Love share NBA super agent Jeff Schwartz. When Love was eligible for his first contract extension, though, Schwartz was only able to finagle a four-year deal out of the Timberwolves -- something that has bugged Love enough to cause him to speak publicly about his displeasure on several occasions.
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:
“We talked about a lot of things,” Saunders said. “More than anything, Kevin wants to win. As we talked about Pek, he just said, ‘You have to do what you have to do.’ I think Kevin really knows and believes I’m going to have a certain way I’ll do things. I don’t know what has been done in the past. I really don’t care.”
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.
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