You have to give Darko Milicic this: At least he doesn’t like being a punch line.
He was not happy about being traded from New York to Minnesota, and Timberwolves General Manager David Kahn had to do a little convincing to get the former second pick overall to come to Minneapolis. (Via TrueHoop.)
“I don’t think you can understate how traumatized he is -- it’s not a stretch to say ‘distraught’ -- about how his NBA career has played out,” the Wolves’ president said, one day after obtaining the seldom-used Knicks center in exchange for forward Brian Cardinal. “You can’t reverse that much frustration in one meeting.”
Milicic hasn’t seen any game action since Nov. 13 (which with the Knicks roster is damning), but he should get a little burn in the Timberwolves remaining 27 games. Not that he is going to change minds about his career in that time, but he could start to gain a little confidence.
After meeting with Kahn, Milicic’s position hasn’t changed much, the Wolves’ president said, particularly since it means uprooting his wife and infant daughter. But he swallowed his disappointment over the transaction -- “He sees this latest trade as just one more incident that has befallen him,” Kahn said -- and agreed to report to the Wolves in time for tonight’s game with the Bulls.
Milicic sounds like someone eager to return home and start over with his career in Europe. Minnesota is just now a stop on the way.