Nikola Pekovic was once one of the top-10 centers in the entire NBA. And that wasn’t all too long ago, either.
In fact, travel back just three calendar years. Heading into training camp in fall of 2013, Pekovic was coming off of a campaign that saw him average a career-high 31.6 minutes per contest and post per-game averages of 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds. And all of this while maintaining impressive efficiency and being a monster on the offensive glass.
The 2013-14 season was actually better for Pekovic from a statistical perspective, at least until he broke down entirely — first 44 games into the season, and then after missing 13 games and returning for seven contests, Pek missed 15 of the final 18 games of the season.