Kevin Garnett Traded to Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Garnett has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Thaddeus Young.
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Garnett Traded to Timberwolves
Thursday, Feb. 19
Garnett is heading back to the Timberwolves in exchange for Thaddeus Young, confirms Minnesota's team website.
Head coach Flip Saunders and owner Glen Taylor both offered their take on acquiring Garnett in the team release:
""We are excited to have Kevin Garnett back in Minnesota and playing for the Timberwolves," said Timberwolves head coach Flip Saunders. "When people think of the Timberwolves they think of KG. He had some great years for us and our organization and fans really respect what he's done here in Minnesota and throughout his NBA career. KG will bring his usual strong work ethic and leadership and be a positive influence for our young team."
"It means a lot to me to have Kevin Garnett back on our team," said Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor. "I have great respect for Kevin as a person and a player. He was the first player we drafted after I bought the team and we got to see him develop into one of the best players in the world. Like our fans, I'm excited to be able to watch Kevin in a Timberwolves uniform once again."
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David Aldridge of TNT first reported the trade.
On Feb. 18, Stein reported that the Timberwolves were working on bringing Garnett back to Minnesota in a deal centered on forward Thaddeus Young:
Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reported that Garnett would have to approve the deal and put aside any feelings towards Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor.
Garnett, 38, is in the final season of a three-year, $36 million contract. It's widely expected that the future Hall of Famer will retire after the 2014-15 campaign, though no formal announcement has been made.
What makes any potential deal interesting is it has to have Garnett's seal of approval because of his no-trade clause.
A noted proponent of regimen and despiser of change, Garnett requested the no-trade clause when he signed the deal in Boston because he thought it guaranteed he'd finish his career there. He waived the clause to facilitate the deal to Brooklyn when the Celtics traded him and good friend Paul Pierce to the Nets before last season.
It's unclear whether Garnett would be willing to make an abrupt midseason change again. The Nets, even in their disappointing state, are competing for a playoff spot in the East. The Wolves are one of the NBA's worst teams, headed on a trajectory that would see Garnett playing his waning days in half-filled arenas while getting blown out.
"Well, if the ROY and Dunk Contest Champion only gets you to 29th in attendance then, yea, Flip at least called KG.
— Zachary Bennett (@ZacharyBD) February 19, 2015"
Perhaps the only real draw here is nostalgia. Garnett built a Hall of Fame resume over his dozen years in Minnesota, securing his status as the best player by far in franchise history. In November, Garnett, who has made more than $300 million in salary alone during his playing career, told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports he'd be interested in buying the Timberwolves someday.
"I want to buy the Timberwolves. Put a group together and perhaps someday try to buy the team. That's what I want," Garnett said.
As for the Minnesota portion of the deal, it seems borderline preposterous—or at the very least a piece of bad asset management from Flip Saunders. The Timberwolves shipped a valuable first-round pick to Philadelphia to acquire Young in the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland. The pick, which is actually Miami's 2015 first-round selection, would be No. 15 overall if the season ended today.
For Saunders to trade Young (who could opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer) for Garnett (who'd contribute little more than leadership and splashy headlines to the neophyte Timberwolves) would be a depreciation of value typically seen on a used-car sales lot.
However, with Young taking up valuable minutes that should be going to younger players, perhaps dumping him for a Garnett-level splash is the best way make that happen.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
