It's done: Pek agrees to 5-year, $60M deal

The Wolves today finally reached agreement with restricted free agent center Nikola Pekovic on a new contract. It is, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, a five-year, $60 million contract that also includes as much as $8 million more in incentives.

August 14, 2013 at 8:47PM
In this April 2013 file photo, Wolves center Nikola Pekovic split the Raptor defense and drove to the basket.
In this April 2013 file photo, Wolves center Nikola Pekovic split the Raptor defense and drove to the basket. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Wolves today finally reached agreement with restricted free agent center Nikola Pekovic on a new contract.

It is, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, a five-year, $60 million contract that also includes as much as $8 million more in bonus incentives.

The Wolves got Pekovic at their price -- no more than $12 million a year -- but gave a fifth guaranteed year to get the deal done.

Flip Saunders insisted on breaking the news on his own Twitter account not long ago.

Pek is expected to be here Friday for a news conference officially announcing the deal.

In a statement released by the team, Saunders said, "Retaining Pek was our No. 1 priority this offseason and we're very excited that he's chosen to continue his career in Minnesota. Thanks to a lot of hard work and determination, Pek has developed into one of the NBA's premier centers and is entering the prime of his career. We envision Pek and Kevin Love being the `Bruise Brothers' and forming one of the best front courts in the NBA for a long time to come."

A couple other things:

No word yet on who Kevin Love's new agent is...

That's a joke, btw.

Love, of course, was seriously miffed when David Kahn didn't give him that fifth year and "designated player" status coming off his rookie contract.

Pek did get a fifth year with Jeff Schwartz -- who also is Love's agent -- doing the negotiating.

And this five-year deal DOES NOT preclude the Wolves from signing Ricky Rubio to that five-year designated player status.

Pek's five-year deal is a completely separate thing from the lone designated player status alloted to one Wolves player coming out of his rookie deal.

The Wolves now still can extend Love down the road witha five-year deal and sign Rubio to a five-year deal when his rookie contract is up in 2015.

Pek still will not play in the European championships in Slovenia next month.

about the writer

about the writer

Jerry Zgoda

Reporter

Jerry Zgoda covers Minnesota United FC and Major League Soccer for the Star Tribune.

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