Garnett may walk away for nothing next summer
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by user ArmchairCraigInTC
I was so disappointed, I held my silence for almost a week now. But now it must be said: the Minnesota Timberwolves and GM Kevin McHale missed their best opportunity to improve the franchise long-term when they failed to come up with a decent deal on Draft Night for perennial All-Star and all-around nice guy, PF Kevin Garnett.
No one wants to see KG leave Minnesota; Garnett is not the problem here. The problem is a different Kevin. But let's face it: Garnett is the one asset the Timberwolves might be willing to part with whose trade could bring plenty of good value to the franchise, as well as future flexibility.
Sure, it'll be nice to have Garnett around to train young players how to be real pros, like the newly-drafted SG/SF Corey Brewer and PF/C Chris Richard, as well as folks like the future young core of the Wolves, PG Randy Foye, SF/PF Craig Smith, and SG Rashad McCants.
That's a nice young group to build around, especially with veterans like C Mark Blount, PF/C Juwan Howard and Garnett to compliment them. Still and all, it's not as powerful a lineup as it could be.
There's still plenty of trash to kick to the curb, bad contracts that might be impossible to get rid of, like Marco Jaric, Ricky Davis and Trenton Hassell. But at least the trimming list is getting shorter.
While it's not a terrible mix, is it a mix that can win a championship? That's the shadow that hangs over the team. Brewer's a great piece of the puzzle, but the 185-pound SF whose skinniness makes him a SG for now, isn't the final piece of the puzzle the Wolves needed to turn 32-50 into 50-32.
Trading Garnett before the draft, for one or two top-10 picks, would have been preferable for the long-term good of the franchise. Along with Garnett, they could have unloaded the Jaric contract, and acquired some much-needed cap relief.
My favorite deal was the one involving Phoenix and Atlanta, which would have resulted in Minnesota getting Atlanta's picks and some roster-filler in the way of expiring-contract players and young, developing talents.
With Atlanta's third and 11th pick, as well as their own at seven, word is Minnesota would have been home to even more Gators! They would have taken Horford at the three-spot, naturally, taken Brewer at seven, and then, rumor had it, may have packaged the 11th pick and Icky Ricky Davis to move up two spots, swapping with Chicago to acquire Joakim Noah.
Imagine a T-Wolves squad with Horford, Brewer, Noah and Richard from the two-time national champion Gators, along with assets like Foye, Smith and McCants on board, and a couple vets like Juwan Howard and Trenton Hassell along for the ride. Certainly that would have been enough to make Minnesota into a 10-year dynasty, and enough to make fans forget about trading away a 32-year-old Garnett.
But all that is wishful thinking and unfulfilled dreams now. The best the Wolves can hope for is that Chicago catches Garnett fever over the summer or into the season and is willing to trade away Noah, Tyrus Thomas and a 2008 pick in exchange for Garnett.
Otherwise, next summer, Minnesota will likely watch the 12-year Franchise walk away without so much as a Starbuck's coffee in exchange, once Garnett opts out of the final year of his contract.
