Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune in his latest blog had some news on old friends Antonio Daniels and Oleksiy Pecherov.
Daniels, who was traded from Washington to New Orleans last fall as part of the Mike James/Javaris Crittenton deal, changed addresses again late this summer, as the Hornets swapped him for another former Wizard, Darius Songaila. But Jerry says that he likely is on the move again.
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Here’s what Jerry reports following a sit-down with T’Wolves GM David Kahn:
He put Daniels in the same category as traded-away Quentin Richardson and absent Mark Blount. Daniels, 34, was acquired from New Orleans earlier this month mainly because Kahn opened more cap space for next summer by trading Darius Songaila and the two years remaining on his contract away. Daniels wants to play significant minutes so he score another sizable contract next summer, a prospect that, barring injury, isn’t likely with the Wolves committed to Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions at point guard.
[Kahn] said he would trade Daniels to a team where he can play more — as he did by dealing Richardson to Miami for Blount — if he can get a similar expiring $6.6 million contract in return. Kahn said he believes helping players in that situation if possible is a bit of goodwill that eventually will benefit the franchise with other players down the road.
I had thought that the Timberwolves must have wanted a veteran to mentor Flynn, but knew that A.D. likely wasn’t happy about the trade to Minnesota, mainly because he had told me himself he “absolutely loved” the situation he had in New Orleans. It’ll be interesting to see where he winds up.
And then for the news on Pech …
[Kahn] said Oleksiy Pecherov, acquired in that draft-week trade with Washington, is the only player who won’t be ready Tuesday. Pecherov broke his hand while playing for his national team a month ago and Kahn said he expects him to be cleared to resume playing a week from today.
Man, we’ve heard that before, haven’t we? Once again, Pech will start a preseason behind because of injury. Previously he was always hindered by foot/ankle injuries, now his hand. Here’s to hoping for a speedy recovery for Pech, so he can finally have a chance to “get buckets, son.” Otherwise, who knows if he’ll ever get a chance to produce in this league.
