The Time Has Come For KG to Go
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by user Leslie Monteiro
TNT’s Inside the NBA is one of the most popular sports shows in America. Every Thursday night when the games are over, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson speak their minds on the league. The unique thing about the three of them is that they are not afraid to offend people. For years, those guys have been calling for Kevin Garnett to demand a trade or to tell the Wolves to do KG a favor and trade him for his own good. Minnesota sports fans would spew their outrage on message boards every time the TNT guys would say that.
Those guys were at it again on Thursday night. Reggie Miller demanded that the Ticket should go to Chicago immediately and Doug Collins was praying that the Wolves would lose. Charles and Kenny were saying the same things as they have been saying for years. This time, it is time for Wolves fans to stop getting angry at those guys and start agreeing with them. KG’s time with the team has come and gone. It is time for this marriage to end.
The Timberwolves are not going to be an elite franchise any time soon. Heck they might be a lottery team for years to come. What is the point of having a superstar on the team and have all these losses every year? Both teams could benefit from a change. It is time for KG to go to a championship contender so he can get that ring that he desires. He has given his team so much of everything over the years. He rebounded well. He has showed toughness by not being in the injured list. He was the reason why the Wolves even made the playoffs for all those years. He has done everything in his power. Unfortunately, it has not worked out and it is not going to either. He is already 30. He may be retiring in six or seven years. His body is being affected with the pounding that he takes from his counterparts at the power forward position. Let him get a chance to go for a title while he is still at his prime.
This is also an opportunity for the Wolves to go get young players to build around with along with Rookie of the Year favorite Randy Foye, Craig Smith, Rashad McCants, and Bracey Wright. This franchise is going to have to have to get younger to keep up with the fast and athletic teams in the Western Conference. This franchise has been shaky in drafting players in recent years so an established group of young players can help them. Chicago and the Lakers would make sense. Chicago can give the Wolves Ben Gordon, their 2007 draft pick, Luoi Deng, and 2006 draft pick Tyrus Thomas. Lakers can give Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Jordan Farmar to the Wolves for KG. Those guys would help the Wolves succeed for the next succeed 10 years. They can go keep KG, but they are only going to give five years of him at his peak. After that, how is this team going to do well. A team has to think ahead here.
In a perfect world, it would happen, but it will not for so many reasons. The Timberwolves are afraid to make this deal because they might get hosed. They feel that draft picks and young players are just not going to be enough. They do no think anything is going to be enough. They probably would trade him if they get a superstar in return, but that never happens. Why would a team trade for a superstar just to give up a star? Isn’t the purpose to get that guy to complement its own superstar?
Wolves have to realize that draft picks is what they are going to get in return and the onus is on them to pick the right guys.
Wolves did okay in getting McCants and hitting a home run in Foye, but their draft record has been spotty even when they had the draft picks prior to the Joe Smith scandal. It was questionable to why they drafted Wally Szczerbiak when they could have drafted Rip Hamilton. They could have gone with Ron Artest instead of Will Avery. It was very inexcusable to not draft the ACC Player of the Year in Josh Howard. Instead, they decided to draft a project from high school in Nududi Ebi, who David Stern mispronounced his name as Doodie Ebi. It is easy to now second-guess why they did not draft Steve Nash when they went with Marbury. They should have done their homework about Marbury’s horrible character which goes back to high school. Heck why they bypass Ray Allen, who is a better player and a better person than Marbury. They drafted him and then made to trade for Marbury. After years of failure in the draft, McHale has been scared to draft which is why he is not interested in getting picks for Garnett.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor wants no part of trading Garnett because he is worried about losing sponsors and losing the diehards for good. KG is the owner's meal ticket to making money so he has own incentive for holding on to his prized asset.
There are people who assume that KG is not happy in Minnesota. Believe or not, he enjoys it there. He wants no part of wanting out because he has a sheltered life in the Twin Cities. No coach will cuss him out. McHale will always bow down to him. He can play the sympathy card by others well. He does not have to be held accountable for the team's problems. He has it way too good which is another reason why he needs to go for his own good. He needs better coaching. A guy like Phil Jackson or Scott Skiles could push KG to do his best every night not once in two weeks which has been KG's norm in recent years. Of course, Garnett is not a guy that deals with authority well. He will make a stink if a head coach gets to him. He knows that he is going to have it different if he goes elsewhere. He is afraid of that which is why he would rather stay and deal with a liberal coach who won't be on his case.
The bottom line is that Timberwolves fans do not have to worry about KG going anywhere. They seem happy with each other.
It is too bad for both sides.
Both sides could use a change.
