An injury to Nikola Pekovic may keep the Timberwolves center sidelined even longer than first thought.
This week Timberwolves president and coach Flip Saunders said Pekovic would be out for the remainder of the season.
But the team said today that Pekovic will be out indefinitely and will undergo achilles surgery next week.
Nikola Pekovic will undergo a debridement & repair of his right Achilles on April 8 by Dr Robert Anderson at Ortho Carolina in Charlotte, NC
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 2, 2015
Surgeons will attempt to remove some of the damaged tissue in Pekovic’s right ankle, which has bothered him since he first signed with the Timberwolves five years ago.
Operation for Nikola Pekovic will remove damaged tissue around right Achilles tendon to improving area for remaining healthy tissue #Twolves
— Andy Greder (@twolvesnow) April 2, 2015
The team did not attempt to provide a timeline for when Pekovic may return to the court – saying only that an updated announcement will be made when the time is appropriate.
According to the Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda, it’s not known if Pekovic will be able to return to the court to work out during the off-season or if the injury could threaten his career.
Pekovic played in a career-low 31 games for the Wolves this season. He averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a game but has missed the last 12 games after sitting out half of November, all of December and most of January with “ankle soreness.”
The Associated Press notes that since Pekovic signed a five-year $60 million contract in August of 2013, he has played in just 85 games over two seasons.
