2 Kevins Do Well in '08 Offseason?

Kevin Garnett had a breakout year this year, Defensive Player of the Year, his first title, and it was the same year as Kevin McHale's 22 win season. Next season, and few seasons to come, however, are now looking brighter for Mr. McHale.

Kevin McHale has been ridiculed for many reasons, bad trades, bad drafts, Joe Smith, but for the first time since Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell, McHale did some things with the Timberwolves this off-season that really have started to turn around his mistakes.

The '06-'07 season's stars consisted of Mike James, Ricky Davis, and Kevin Garnett. Here's what happened with them which made the Wolves not the greatest. Mike: Was traded for Juwan Howard, who then later opted out of his contract as a free agent. We basically got nothing for him. Ricky: Was traded with Mark Blount (2 overrated players) for Antoine Walker, a former All-Star. This was the season where he fell apart. Probably not the Wolve's fault. Kevin: Traded for a little bit of potential players, including Al Jefferson, and Theo Ratliff, a veteran who became a free agent at the end of his injury (allowing him around 8 games with the Wolves). 2 more than decent players and 1 All-Star became 1 potential All-Star and 3 potential 6th men (Gerald Green could only dunk).

Here's what McHale did:                                                                                       The Wolves's 22-60 record allowed them for a 3rd overall pick. While that seemed like an opportunity to get another potential All-Star next to Jefferson, he instead got a player with limitless potential who was ridiculed for the very same thing that he recently improved on: athleticism. He did so by loosing Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker, and Greg Buckner for free, which was another bonus, and by the loss of only OJ Mayo, who's potential is being the next Kobe Bryant in his personal life, and MAYBE on the court. Also, he traded almost literally nothing to get another potential player similar to Rashad McCants or Ryan Gomes: Rodney Carney. Also, he let the contracts of Michael Doleac and Kirk Snyder expire. So let's compare:

• C-Al Jefferson = Al Jefferson
• PF-Ryan Gomes (SF) = Kevin Love
• SF-Kirk Snyder = Corey Brewer
• SG-Rashad McCants = Mike Miller
• PG-Sebastian Telfair = Randy Foye
• Backups- Brewer, Craig Smith, and Jaric = McCants, Gomes, Telfair, Carnery, Smith, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins.

I think those comparisons speak for themselves. Last year's only 3 Backups besides those who barely played, are replaced with 5-6 potential players, and a match for larger centers (Yao Ming/Dwight Howard). Also note that last year's starters are also this year's bench. With nothing to work with, McHale may have made his first successful turn around since 2003.