Nemanja Bjelica

[minimus]

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Bjelica was the main scapegoat on this forum for months. All of the sudden his injury ended all our playoff hopes for this year. He is inconsistent scorer that is true. But his BB IQ was kind of glue for our bench and starting five. He did all little things that might not be flashy but kept our offense and defense going. He rebounds, he feeds KAT and Shabazz downlow, he moves off the ball. Before injury Thibs played him more with starters and it was beneficial for our chemistry and Bjelica performance. Many fans said that we should trade him, but I think we should absolutely keep him based on his salary, skills and importance for this team. He has good chemistry with Rubio, also they are good friends off the court. I would still add James Johnson or JaMychal Green for reasonable price, but I'm afraid that wont be a case for Minnesota.

[FinnTheHuman]

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Bjelica was the main scapegoat on this forum for months. All of the sudden his injury ended all our playoff hopes for this year. He is inconsistent scorer that is true. But his BB IQ was kind of glue for our bench and starting five. He did all little things that might not be flashy but kept our offense and defense going. He rebounds, he feeds KAT and Shabazz downlow, he moves off the ball. Before injury Thibs played him more with starters and it was beneficial for our chemistry and Bjelica performance. Many fans said that we should trade him, but I think we should absolutely keep him based on his salary, skills and importance for this team. He has good chemistry with Rubio, also they are good friends off the court. I would still add James Johnson or JaMychal Green for reasonable price, but I'm afraid that wont be a case for Minnesota.

Bjelica has earned his 25+ minutes for the next season I feel. That's why I think we should focus on getting our hands on a really good starting SF/PF and put single digit millions per season for a possible PF signing, not more. Our wing rotation needs improvement first and foremost.

[Popovich]

He really has some bad luck , again because of the injury he will miss to play for his NT on EuroBasket this summer and he is kicking himself right now.

[TheProdigy]

Watch on YouTube

He is starter material.

[minimus]

His shooting stroke is so smoooooth. I thought he would recover slowly hence I expected a rough start of the season from him. I'm glad I was mistaken.

[brutalitops]

With a much better bench Bjelica is playing a lot better and picking up where he left off before the broken foot.

Having, well basically NBA level players in the back up has given him much more freedom

[breatnach]

I hope he will resign with us. Since he never signed a rookie level contract, I suppose he'll be an UFA? If so, we won't be able to go over the cap to retain him.

I reckon he could easily get a 54 / 4 contract like Ingles did.

[Worm Guts]

I hope he will resign with us. Since he never signed a rookie level contract, I suppose he'll be an UFA? If so, we won't be able to go over the cap to retain him.

I reckon he could easily get a 54 / 4 contract like Ingles did.

We can go over the cap to sign him whether he's restricted or not, but I think he's restricted.

EDIT: According to ESPN, he is restricted

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20229609/nba-free-agents-2018-2019

[Worm Guts]

And I think he's got a lot to prove before he gets an Ingles contract.

[Tatanka]

And he will never prove with 10-15mins per game. A lot of that time was garbage time and will never change with Tibo. I hope he gets chance somewhere to play more than 20mins per game..

[Crazy-Canuck]

If kat ever starts to become more of a defensive presence, bjelly would slide in nicely as the starting pf.

Regardless i think he can start for us once we figure things out because taj is also good off the bench if need be.

[minimus]

I think that at this stage of season Taj is irreplaceable in terms of defense. But Id be happy to resign Bjelica if he keeps his shooting at this level.

[shrink]

Bjelica has become the player I cheer for the most.

If we still have Dieng on the books, giving Bjelica a big contract may be problematic. Would Taylor pay to keep him, with two expensive bench bigs? Maybe with Cole leaving this year, and Taj the next, he just bites the bullet? That's a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially since he'll probably be paying lux tax penalties next year too.

Maybe a bigger question is, would Bjelica want to stay here? We desperately need someone like him to stretch the floor, but I have to think if he continues to play like this, some team will offer him starter money, and starter minutes.

Lastly, can he get extra minutes as our back up three, or is he just not fast enough to defend the perimeter like that? Maybe on certain nights?

[Neal25]

I am glad that after 2 years Bjelica is playing so well like he was playing when he injured the last season. Fortunately we have Tyus and him as great basketball IQ players on the bench. I hope he plays more minutes in the next games because he has earned it and he is a good fit for KAT and our front-court.

[minimus]

I saw somewhere that Bjelica is #1 in NBA in points per possession among players with at least 5 possession per game. Can anybody check it?

[shrink]

some other data caught my eye - nba leaders


Effective Field Goal Percentage
1. Nemanja Bjelica 78.8
2. Kyle Korver 70.8
3. Tony Snell 70.8
4. Clint Capela 70.7
5. Steven Adams 68.2
6. Kelly Olynyk 67.6
7. Rudy Gobert 66.7
8. Chandler Parsons 65.8
9. Jakob Poeltl 65.8
10. Aaron Gordon 65.2

True Shooting Percentage
1. Nemanja Bjelica 81.6
2. Tony Snell 72.5
3. Clint Capela 72.4
4. Kyle Korver 71.2
5. Kelly Olynyk 71.0
6. Steven Adams 69.6
7. Rudy Gobert 69.6
8. Stephen Curry 68.8
9. Evan Fournier 68.8
10. Aaron Gordon 67.3

[Takingbaconback]

Tony Snell? lol

[minimus]

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[minimus]

Keep it up, Nemanja!

[Narf]

I feel like Bjelica's 60/60/90 isn't getting enough awesomeness here.

63.6 fg%, 62.5 TS%, 91.7 FT%
Per 36: 19.0/6.3/1.6

Why he's not playing more minutes is beyond me.