He’s going to have opportunities, but it’s a matter of where it’s going to happen.” In the NBA, when you have those types of issues, now instead of playing 30 games you’re playing 82. “But he’s had some issues as far as his knees. “More than anything, I really believe he’s got the talent to play in this league,” Saunders said. The question at the next level will be his size and the durability of his knees-particularly after tearing the ACL in his right knee in November 2011. He’s been on record saying he told Indiana’s Cody Zeller that Mbakwe “kicked his butt” during the Gophers’ upset win over the top-ranked Hoosiers in February, and he likes the energy Mbakwe brings each night. As a Minnesota alum, Saunders was at Williams Arena watching Mbakwe play during his tenure in Dinkytown-particularly last season. Wolves President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders believes in Mbakwe. If he can accomplish that, he could be a steal in the second round of this year’s draft. But he’s hoping to display the type of energy teams are seeing out of Denver’s Kenneth Faried and Detroit’s Jason Maxiell at the next level. Throughout this offseason, Mbakwe said he’s been working on that 15-17 foot midrange jumper, something he’ll need to develop to create a little space on the floor against bigger and possibly more physical defenders. But he’s working on his game while continuing to hold onto that energy he displayed throughout his tenure at Williams Arena. At 6-foot-8 and working toward an ideal weight of 250 pounds, Mbakwe will be a tad undersized at the power forward position in the NBA. Mbakwe was part of Monday’s six-man Draft workout, competing with North Carolina’s Reggie Bullock, Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas, New Mexico’s Tony Snell, Arizona State’s Carrick Felix and Utah’s Jason Washburn. “Tayshaun Prince (who played for Smith at Kentucky) went through 19 workouts himself. “He’s been through this process with a lot of his players,” Mbakwe said. Others have made this rigorous trek before, and it’s paid off big time in the end.Īnd if he needed any reinforcement of that fact, he got it during a Father’s Day phone call with former Gophers coach Tubby Smith on Sunday. He’s getting his name, and his game, out there for NBA executives and coaches to evaluate. He knows it’s a blessing to work out here, in his home state, as part of his ninth overall NBA workout with four more to go. He knows what it will take to perhaps hear his name called during the June 27 NBA Draft. Standing in the LifeTime Fitness Training Center on Monday, looking a little more slender than he did when he wore a Gophers uniform for the last time in March due to those continuous NBA workouts, Mbakwe wasn’t complaining. His body, not yet used to the transition from the 35-game NCAA schedule to the rigors of an 82-game NBA marathon, is learning day-by-day what lies ahead at the next level. Trevor Mbakwe is getting his first taste of what it’s like physically playing at the NBA level.