Nikola Pekovic was the Minnesota Timberwolves starting center for the past four seasons but has always had trouble staying on the floor. This season Pekovic figured to have a smaller role than the past few years but it hasn't mattered because he hasn't been healthy enough to be on the floor yet for the Wolves. There have been reports lately that Pekovic has been making some slow progress but now it is being reported that he might be two weeks away from practicing, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.
Pekovic has been dealing with both Achilles and ankle injuries but says that he hasn't had any pain in the ankle recently. Pekovic has participated in some pick-and-roll drills and some two-on-none drills in the past week and has also reportedly been doing some light running for a few weeks now. It is good news that there is some sort of progress for Pekovic but it has been a painfully slow process.
The hope for him now is that he can continue to progress to the point that he can start practicing on a limited basis within the next two weeks. Since they are just hoping for limited practices in the next couple of weeks it likely means that Pekovic isn't close to a return and December seems all but out of the question. The best case scenario for Pekovic at this point seems to be a return in January for the 2016 portion of Minnesota's schedule.
An even bigger question for Pekovic is if and when he does finally get healthy enough to play, will he have a role. So far this season the Timberwolves haven't really missed the 29 year old center as both Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng have played great particularly on the defensive end. It would be nice for the Wolves to have Pekovic available as insurance just in case someone got hurt but if everyone is healthy upon his return it seems highly unlikely that he would be able to earn minutes at the center position.
As of right now Pekovic's progress in his return has little bearing on this current Timberwolves team as their frontcourt is loaded but there could come a time when he becomes necessary. Pekovic has never been healthy in his NBA career and is not someone who could be relied upon but you could do worse than have him as your third string center.
