Garnett may want to stay
All that talk about Kevin Garnett wanting to flee the Timberwolves after a summer draft in which the Minnesota franchise finally took seriously some trade offers for Garnett before deciding they either didn’t make sense of the Wolves, didn’t offer enough in return, or simply fell through — well, that may not be the case.
The Pioneer Press is reporting that young SG Rashad McCants, one of the players Garnett is closest to on the team’s current roster, is saying that Garnett isn’t interested in playing elsewhere; he wants to remain in Minnesota.
According to that story, Garnett likes being the “king” in Minnesota and despite the PR blowup of trade rumors this summer, apparently has no interest in leaving … now, or next summer, when he would be eligible to opt-out of the final year of his current contract. Of course, it was Garnett who was reported by the press to have mumbled “thank God for opt-outs” during one low point this past season.
Did the network cables between Garnett and Timberwolves management get crossed somehow? It’s a high-stakes gamble for Timberwolves ownership.
If Minnesota feels Garnett is likely to even consider opting out after the 2007-08 season, it would be in the team’s best interest to trade him now and avoid losing him with no compensation at all.
However, if the team chooses to believe Garnett’s desire to not only play out his current contract, but finish his career in Minnesota, two scenarios are possible:
1) Garnett may change his mind and opt-out anyway, or at least refuse to sign an extension, meaning the team could lose him anyway for no compensation, or worse, face trading him next year with the whole NBA knowing Garnett’s leaving in 2009 anyway, making the value of trading for him before then much, much lower.
2) Garnett stays true to his word, and the Wolves can use the Big Ticket to mentor the young core of players they are surrounding him with.
It’s a high-stakes poker game at this point, and Garnett is using Mccants as his stand-in play maker.
