Nikola Pekovic has yet to play in a single game this season for the Minnesota Timberwolves, as he has dealt with injuries to his right Achilles tendon and his ankle. Pekovic's recovery from the injuries has been painfully slow, but every now and then there has been an update that he is improving. Pekovic has now progressed to the point that he will be able to participate in full-contact practices, and a return may come soon, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The problem for Pekovic and the Timberwolves is the fact that their schedule is so jam-packed right now that they don't have much time for practice. Minnesota is currently in a stretch of playing three games in four days, which means that Pekovic won't get in any practice time and he will not be able to play in games until he gets some full- contact practice under his belt.
Pekovic has not played in a game since last March, and although he is cleared, it doesn't seem like he will play all that soon. Even when Pekovic is cleared for game action, though, he might not get much playing time, as he will be third on the center depth chart behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng.
"It'd be nice, but I'm not going to hold my breath," said Timberwolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell. "When he comes back, how many minutes can we realistically give Pek? How many minutes do we leave him out there? We don't have a team that's built so we can give unproductive minutes. Pek is going to have to do his work. We're working with him. But without practice time, it's going to be tough for him."
Mitchell seems a bit agitated about how long it has taken Pekovic to recover, and even though he likely wouldn't get all that much playing time, it would be nice to have him as insurance should someone get in foul trouble or hurt. The 29-year-old center has dealt with a ton of injuries in his NBA career, so the Wolves might be hoping that he can show he is healthy when he returns so they can move him in a trade. Pekovic is a good player when healthy, but he is buried on Minnesota's depth chart, so he has come up in trade rumors. However, he won't get that much interest if he doesn't first prove he could play.
