Kevin Garnett: Should the Boston Celtics Extend His Contract?
Kevin Garnett's contract with the Boston Celtics expires at the conclusion of the 2011-12 NBA season.
Slated to make $21.2 million during the upcoming season, Garnett will be 36 years old by the time the postseason concludes. Considering he's been playing in the league since 1995, his body has undoubtedly endured a sizable amount of wear and tear.
Despite two down seasons following the 2007-08 Boston championship and many claiming that Garnett had lost a step, he rebounded favorably in 2010-11.
Garnett averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in 71 regular season games for the Celtics last season, an improvement from the year before when he logged just 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in 69 contests.
With some believing that 2011-12 is the final opportunity for the Celtics to win a championship with the current crop of talent on the roster, general manager Danny Ainge has a difficult decision looming as to whether or not he'll extend Garnett.
Ainge has clearly been angling to achieve as much cap space as possible prior to the loaded free-agent class of 2012, and that's evident as the team has only Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley signed beyond the upcoming season.
The Celtics have just under $30 million committed for 2012-13, and while that number will certainly rise when the team signs its rookie draft picks and adds some further talent to fill out the roster, it should still leave more than enough financial resources left over to make a sizable splash in free agency next season.
But how will re-signing Garnett impact those plans?
When Garnett appeared on The Dan Patrick Show at the onset of September, the big man revealed that he had no talks about a contract extension with the Celtics.
As valuable as Garnet has been to Boston since he arrived from Minnesota, at what point is it time to turn the page on the "big three" and turn the keys over to Rajon Rondo?
It's important to note that Ray Allen's contract is also expiring at the conclusion of the upcoming season, and the team can ill afford to sacrifice future success in an effort to preserve the present.
The team needs to get younger in the near future, but Garnett has proved that he can still contribute at a high level and provide the Celtics with an element of ferocity that the team sorely needs.
There's no doubt that the team has a tough decision ahead, but with Garnett saying that he wants to retire with the Celtics, Ainge could already be feeling the pressure to map out the future of his team.
