http://www.freep.com/article/20100323/S ... mit-to-NBADarko Milicic wants playing-time guarantee before he'll commit to NBA
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ low-key sales pitch to former Piston Darko Milicic might be working. The Serbian center said he is willing to play for the Wolves next season, rather than return to Europe, if the team promises him a starter’s role and a consistent 30 to 35 minutes of playing time.“Yeah, I’d come back. That’s what I’m looking for,” the 7-footer said only a month after being rescued from exile on the Knicks’ bench. “Minnesota came up and they kind of trust me. They gave me a chance, and I like it.” It’s the first time that Milicic, who had to be talked into even reporting to Minnesota after the Feb. 18 trade for Brian Cardinal, has softened his stated intention to sign with a European team this summer. And it’s the first sign that the Timberwolves’ nothing-to-lose strategy of trading for the unused big man, giving him ample playing time and letting him warm up to the franchise might pay off. “I think he likes doing all the things he’s doing out there,” Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said. “I just wanted him to be in an environment where he sees the potential of how he can fit in to how I envision our team playing.”
The Timberwolves were only 14-56 heading into Monday night’s home game against the Raptors, but they are a noticeably better defensive team with Milicic in the lineup — which is why Rambis has force-fed his only true center almost 23 minutes per game even though he is out of shape. Milicic had hoped to have a breakout season in New York, but played only two games before being benched for three months. That’s why the Serbian had already made public — and reiterated once he arrived in Minnesota — his plan to seek a new team in Europe once his NBA contract runs out in July. Now? “I want to talk to these guys, for sure,” Milicic said. “It’s not about money, it’s about seeing how they see me on this team next year. I don’t want to guess, am I going to be a starter? I don’t want to guess nothing.”
Would the Wolves give him such a commitment?
Too early to say, team president David Kahn said from Milwaukee, where he and Rambis scouted NCAA tournament games Sunday. “We don’t have a policy one way or the other. I’m just pleased to hear he’s enjoying it here.” Milicic said he always wanted to see how good a player he could become in the NBA, but being drafted as an 18-year-old by the Pistons with the second pick in 2003 — ahead of Carmelo Antony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade — effectively wrecked his career. Though he was only an 18-year-old European playing 5,000 miles from home, he was quickly labeled a bust. He played only sparingly, never developed, and except for a season in Orlando and a season in Memphis, was never happy. But his desire to play in the NBA is still alive, said Milicic, who scored 16 points with 12 rebounds, both season highs, against the Lakers on Friday. “I just want to play next year. I’m not trying to show people I deserve to be second pick. I just want to be the best I can be,” he said. “This is the best league in the world. I want to get a real chance.” That will only come in Minnesota, he said; it’s either the Wolves or Europe. And he wants to be assured that the team, only 1-13 since he arrived, is headed in the right direction. “I’m looking for minutes, playing time, my position on the team. How the team will play next year,” he said. “It’s important to be happy. This waiting to go home, it’s not happy.”
