Kevin Garnett’s days as an impact player on the court are over. If this latest report is to be believed, though, the Minnesota Timberwolves clearly believe the future Hall-of-Famer can still offer immense value elsewhere.
UPDATE:
Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities tweets that as of a few days ago, Garnett would NOT waive his no-trade clause. No word yet on whether that applies to a reunion with Flip Saunders and the ‘Wolves.
To the masses: The word on KG as recently as days ago was that he wouldn't waive his no-trade. But would the #Twolves love him back? Surely.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) February 19, 2015
PREVIOUSLY:
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Flip Saunders and the ‘Wolves are making a late push in advance of Thursday’s trade deadline to bring Garnett back to his beloved ‘Sota:
ESPN sources say Wolves and Nets have discussed deal to send Thad Young to Brooklyn in exchange for KG … who of course has no-trade clause
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 19, 2015
Be still, our beating heart.
Though this shocking turn of events would placate Garnett and Timberwolves fans everywhere, it reeks of the ineptitude that’s marked Saunders’ tenure as Minny’s president and coach. We’ve no doubt KG could offer words of wisdom to Andrew Wiggins and other ‘Wolves youngsters, and his sudden presence would certainly put fans in the many empty seats of Target Center for the regular season’s final months.
But it’s troubling, to say the least, that Saunders is considering trading Young for the 38 year-old legend. Remember, Minny sent a top-10 protected first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers last August in exchange for Young as part of the three-team deal centering on Wiggins and Kevin Love. Should the deal for the Brooklyn Nets big man come to frutition, the Timberwolves will have effectively chosen 30 games of Garnett’s swan song over a first-round pick likely to fall in the ‘teens.
Obviously, that’s no way to re-build arguably the league’s worst team from the ground up.
Nostalgic saps like us would cherish this development, and it goes without saying that KG would, too. From a big picture perspective, though, this is just more of the same from Saunders – his eyes have a debilitating gaze on the present when they should be firmly focused on the future.
