Nikola Peković

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Nikola Peković
Никола Пековић

Peković with the Timberwolves in 2014 (being guarded by Anthony Davis)
No. 14 – Minnesota Timberwolves
Position Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1986-01-03) January 3, 1986
Bijelo Polje, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Montenegrin
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (211 cm)
Listed weight 285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
NBA draft 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 31st overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Pro playing career 2003–present
Career history
2003–2005 Atlas
2005–2008 Partizan
2008–2010 Panathinaikos
2010–present Minnesota Timberwolves
2011 Partizan
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Medals
Competitor for  Serbia and Montenegro
FIBA Europe U-20 Championship
Bronze 2005 Russia National Team
Gold 2006 Turkey National Team

Nikola Peković (Cyrillic: Никола Пековић; born January 3, 1986) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) tall and plays at the center position.

Professional career

European career

Peković began playing basketball with a Junior team from Podgorica at the age of 15.[1] In 2003, he moved to Belgrade, Serbia and signed his first professional contract with Atlas during the summer. After two years there, Peković joined the national champions Partizan in July 2005.[2] With Black and Whites, he won three consecutive Serbian League titles, two Adriatic League and Serbian Cup titles. Peković was named the MVP of the Adriatic League Final Four in 2008. The same year, he also earned an All-Euroleague Second Team selection for leading Partizan to the competition's quarterfinals.

In the summer of 2008, Peković joined the Greek champions Panathinaikos.[3] He signed a 3-year contract worth €4.5 million net income. He averaged 13.0 points and 3.8 rebounds in just over 18 minutes per contest, helping Panathinaikos win 2008–09 Euroleague title. Peković consequently established himself as one of Europe's elite centers, being voted to the All-Euroleague First Team.[4] With PAO, he also won two Greek League titles and the 2009 Greek Cup.

NBA career

Peković with the Timberwolves (2011)

Peković was selected 31st overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Many draft experts considered him a top 10 pick, but due to his contract situation with his team in Europe he was selected much lower. He was considered a lock to be drafted with the first pick of the second round because players selected in the second round are not subject to the rookie scale contracts of the first round. This meant that the team that drafted him would be able to pay him more than those players selected later in the first round. Due to the amount of money Peković was making in Europe already, he likely would not have made the jump to the NBA for the amount of money that could be paid to a late first round player. It was reported on June 30, 2010, that Peković had agreed with the Wolves to a 3-year, $13 million gross income deal.[5] In his rookie season, Peković averaged 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

On August 16, 2011, Peković signed a contract to play for Partizan until the end of the 2011 NBA lockout.[6] Upon returning to Minnesota, through January 2012, Peković stepped in for an injured Darko Miličić to start center for the Timberwolves. He finished the 2011–12 season with 13.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in 26.9 minutes on the court per game. In voting for the Most Improved Player, Peković finished third behind Orlando's Ryan Anderson and Milwaukee's Ersan İlyasova. On August 14, 2013, Peković re-signed with the Timberwolves. He received a 5-year, $60 million deal.[7]

National team

Serbia and Montenegro national team

While playing with the youth national teams of Serbia and Montenegro, Peković received the bronze medal at the 2005 European U20 Championship in Russia. He also won the gold medal with his generation at the 2006 tournament held in Turkey.

Montenegro national team

Peković with Montenegro (2010)

Peković represented the Montenegrin national team at the EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania. He averaged 13.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 5 games, as Montenegro finished the tournament after first phase.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010–11 Minnesota 65 11 13.6 .517 .000 .763 3.0 .4 .3 .5 5.5
2011–12 Minnesota 47 35 26.9 .564 .000 .743 7.4 .7 .6 .7 13.9
2012–13 Minnesota 62 62 31.6 .520 .000 .744 8.8 .9 .7 .8 16.3
Career 174 108 23.6 .533 .000 .747 6.2 .6 .5 .7 11.6

Euroleague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2005–06 Partizan 14 2 18.0 .574 .000 .677 3.6 .3 .5 .4 7.1 5.9
2006–07 Partizan 20 3 13.5 .593 .000 .714 2.5 .2 .6 .3 4.8 3.3
2007–08 Partizan 23 14 26.5 .584 .000 .773 6.9 .8 .7 .6 16.4 19.6
2008–09 Panathinaikos 21 9 18.1 .634 .000 .775 3.8 .3 .3 .7 13.0 14.0
2009–10 Panathinaikos 13 10 21.6 .607 .000 .727 3.5 .5 .6 .4 14.8 14.9
2011–12 Partizan 7 7 27.2 .549 .000 .811 4.6 .7 .3 .3 15.4 16.7
Career 98 45 20.5 .594 .000 .757 4.3 .5 .5 .5 11.7 12.3

References

  1. ↑ "Pokoriti Evropu" (in Serbian). Blic.rs. April 30, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Peković novo pojačanje Partizana" (in Serbian). B92.net. July 21, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  3. ↑ "Panathinaikos inks Pekovic, brings back Fotsis". Euroleague.net. June 24, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Tribute to the champs, Panathinaikos: Nikola Pekovic!". Euroleague.net. May 22, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Sources: Pekovic's deal worth $13M". ESPN.com. July 1, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Partizan brings former All-Euroleaguer Pekovic home". Euroleague.net. August 16, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
  7. ↑ "Timberwolves Reach Agreement in Principle with Restricted Free-Agent Center Nikola Pekovic". NBA.com. August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikola Peković.
First round
Second round
Panathinaikos B.C. 2008–09 Euroleague Champions
Montenegro squad – EuroBasket 2011 – 21st place
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