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Nemanja Bjelica, Timberwolves agree to 3-year deal

As expected, the Euroleague MVP will play for the Wolves this season

By Key Dae

The Wolves and Nemanja Bjelica have reached agreement on a 3 year contract.

Bjelica was the 35th pick in the 2010 draft (the year of Wes Johnson....so at least we got something out of that season....) He played for Saski Baskonia from 2010-2013, then Fenerbahce Ulker from 2013-2015. He won Euroleague MVP this past season with Fenerbahce, averaging 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists per - using John Hollinger's Euro-to-NBA method, this comes out to about 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per.

Flip will play Bjelica at both small forward and power forward. I believe he has by far the best chance of earning the starting power forward spot whenever Garnett decides to hang up the sneakers.

Bjelica is a genuine jack of all trades player who should be a great fit both with the Wolves' roster and the way the NBA game is played today. He can score from both the paint and the three point line, rebound, hand and pass, and shows promise as a competent defender. Flip has compared him a few time to Detlef Schrempf, who had a great decade-long run as a do-it-all type with the Pacers and Sonics in the 90s. I also like the comparisons to Toni Kukoc and not-bizarro Lamar Odom. He should fit perfectly between Wiggins and Towns.

$3.9 million/year for Bjelica is crazy good value, especially in this market. Wow. It's going to be fun when he starts doing Chandler Parsons stuff and then we get to point out he costs less than Kyle Singler.