When the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Nikola Pekovic with their 31^st overall pick many experts around the league considered the center from Montenegro being an absolute bargain. After all, he was projected to be a Top 10 pick as far as his skills on the court were concerned but ultimately fell to the bottom of the first round as he was still under contract in Europe and had no intention of opting out.

However, just a few hours after free agency began, the Wolves' front-office was able to convince Nikola Pekovic to come to the NBA. More specifically, GM David Kahn signed the 6-11 center to a three year contract worth roughly $13 million. Considering that he was the MVP of the Adriatic League Final Four in 2008 and helped Panathinaikos Athen to win the Euroleague in 2008-09 he could very well turn out to be an excellent investment. In 2009-10, Pekovic averaged 14.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 22 minutes per game while shooting no less than 61% from the floor. That said, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to improve his limited rebounding abilities. Likewise, the extent to which the switch from FIBA to NBA play will negatively affect his performance on the court has yet to be determined.

Moreover, the Minnesota Timberwolves opted to resign Darko Milicic, offering him a generous four year contract that worth about $20 million. Although he was never able to live up to his second overall pick in 2003, the 7-0 center has made some progress and had a fairly solid year in Minnesota last season. In 2009-10, Darko Milicic averaged 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 blocks in 25 minutes per game. Without any doubts, these front-court signings underline the Wolves' intentions to trade former franchise centerpiece Al Jefferson. Yet, it remains to be seen whether it was really smart to commit such a big chunk of their cap space to Darko Milicic and Nikola Pavlovic.

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