Wolves player profile: Nikola Pekovic

This is the 12th installment in a 16-part series running Tuesdays and Fridays profiling each Minnesota Timberwolves player leading up to the start of the NBA season.

The rim-rattling, lane-clearing, ice-fishing behemoth that is Nikola Pekovic has come to a bit of a career crossroads.

The Timberwolves center's merits are no secret by now, his fifth NBA season. When healthy, Pekovic is one of the most fearsome bigs in the league, perhaps its most effective traditional center by combining size, grit and soft hands around the hoop.

When healthy.

In each of his previous campaigns, Pekovic has missed at least 17 games. Last year, he played just 54 -- 10 after the All-Star break. He's not getting any younger, either; Jan. 3, he'll turn 29 years old.

So the focus on Pekovic's durability is about as blatant as his 6-foot-11, 290-pound frame barreling through the paint.

2013-14 stats: 17.5 PPG, 54.1 FG %, 8.7 RPG, 74.7 FT %, 0.9 APG, 0.4 BPG during 30.8 MPG in 54 games

2014-15 salary: $12,100,000

Last year: After a summer of haggling while Pekovic was in his home country of Montenegro, the restricted free-agent signed a max-level, five-year $60 million deal before last season. He came back to the Twin Cities vowing to earn it.

Through half the season, he did.

Pekovic played the first 44 games of the season -- the longest healthy stretch of his career. During that span, he led the league in second-chance points and had 22 double-doubles.

Then, as coach and president Flip Saunders put it, Pekovic ran into "a brick wall."

Bursitis in his right ankle kept him out of 13 games in February. He came back for separate seven- and three-game stints in March before being shut down for the rest of the season. Pekovic was in a walking boot this summer and couldn't run until August.

Part of the problem is his ultra-physical style of play. Another issue Saunders has identified is the big man's minute load. With Ronny Turiaf often injured and Gorgui Dieng not coming along till late in the season, now-retired Rick Adelman played Pekovic 30.8 minutes per game.

This year: Saunders realizes there's only so much he and his prized big man can do. One key tenet of the plan to pace Pekovic is limiting his playing time.

Saunders said he'll try to play Pekovic less than 30 minutes per game, starting him off in the mid-20s range.

Pekovic will also be given the benefit of periodic rest. He already has during preseason practice, sometimes sitting out to lessen the wear and tear.

And then there's Dieng, whose late-season surge landed him a spot on the NBA's all-rookie second team last year. Increased production from him and Turiaf ought to decrease the burden on Pekovic's wide, burly shoulders, too.

The team's training staff will continue to work with him on injury prevention exercises. Nike gave him some new shoes, and he's tried out different orthotics to give his feet more support.

With Kevin Love traded away, Pekovic will become more of a focal point in the offense, someone counted on to score inside, rebound and clog the paint on defense. Given his playing style and history, it's safe to assume he'll miss some time.

But if the Wolves can keep it to a minimum, they'll be a lot better off for it.

Quotable: "I know the medical staff are doing everything to try to keep me healthy, but like I said many times, my way of playing and how many times I get bumped and I get hit, and of course, I hit people. Of course, it's normal to get hurt. I just hope something doesn't happen like the small injuries I had last year." -- Pekovic at the Timberwolves' media day

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