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Post by Chicago on Jun 18, 2007 3:46:04 GMT -5
KG on the move? Why a Garnett trade might -- or might not -- happen
By Chad Ford ESPN.com
Over the weekend, several Eastern Conference general managers told ESPN.com that Minnesota Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale is finally listening to trade offers for Wolves superstar Kevin Garnett.
Any number of teams would want to get involved in the KG sweepstakes, if indeed bidding has opened.
For a couple of years, the Bulls have seemed to be a natural destination for the former Chicago high school star -- Bulls GM John Paxson has stockpiled a lot of young talent that could potentially go to Minnesota in a trade.
But the Wolves might have missed their best chance to make a Chicago deal work. With P.J. Brown entering free agency, two things would have to happen for a KG-to-Chicago trade to be possible: (1) the Bulls would need Brown to agree to a sign-and-trade to make the numbers work, and (2) the Wolves would have to pay Brown upwards of $10 million next season. If those two conditions are not met, it's very unlikely the Bulls and Wolves will be able to make a KG deal under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
If KG's not going to Chicago, where could he go? From what I'm hearing -- and at this point it's just a hot rumor -- the Wolves and Boston Celtics talking about a Garnett deal.
In this scenario, Boston would send Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and change to Minnesota along with the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft. In exchange, the Celtics would get Garnett.
While a six-for-one trade would create some awkward roster dilemmas, it could work for Boston in this case because the Celtics would be giving up only one member of their core Jefferson. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves would get an emerging low-post star, a wing player with a lot of upside, another high draft pick and future cap flexibility.
On Saturday, I spoke with Celtics vice president Danny Ainge about the rumor, and he replied that he would not comment on trade discussions. He did say that the Celtics were talking with a lot of teams at the moment about a number of different trade scenarios, but that none of them were close to happening.
One could argue that the Celtics would be better off trading Paul Pierce and continuing to create a younger team. But if they are committed to keeping Pierce and trying for more immediate success, the Garnett deal would make sense for the Celtics. A combination of Garnett and Pierce would make the Celtics instant contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Even if the Wolves could come to an agreement with the Celtics (or another team) on which players should be involved in a Garnett deal, there are some logistical and risk issues that might kill such a deal.
For Minnesota, Garnett won't be easy to trade to any team.
Garnett is due to be paid $22 million next season, and he could be owed about $3 million more than that because his trade kicker is 15 percent. That makes the mere act of balancing salaries a challenge in any Garnett trade, given the restrictions of the collective bargaining agreement.
On the other hand, to make a trade work under the collective bargaining agreement, Garnett would be allowed to waive part of his trade kicker, if he so chose.
At the same time, acquiring Garnett would come with plenty of risk for the Celtics or any other team.
Garnett can opt out of his contract at the end of next season, meaning that teams may be reluctant to trade a lot of assets for him, given that he could leave next year.
While the Celtics might be willing to offer Garnett a multiyear extension, they would not be allowed to negotiate with Garnett until after both July 1 and the trade. Therefore Boston would run the risk that they could make a major play for Garnett, only to watch him walk away after one season in Celtic Green.
And if the Celtics are willing to offer Garnett an extension, how many years and millions should they offer? Garnett is already 31 years old.
Furthermore, with Garnett and Pierce eating most of the team's cap room, Boston's financial flexibility to make moves to the supporting cast would be severely limited.
So even if Garnett were available, and even though the trade proposed above would be a good one for Boston on paper, it's not the no-brainer it might appear to be at first glance.
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Post by Chicago on Jun 18, 2007 16:24:55 GMT -5
Speculation About Kevin Garnett to Boston
June 18, 2007 4:19 PM
It makes all kinds of sense that Boston would be interested in Kevin Garnett. They're a big market team in need of a savior. He's a big-time player ripe for a change, whose value could be unlocked on the big stage.
A couple of very smart people -- including one with some inside knowledge -- told me over the last few weeks that when the Kevin Garnett-to-Boston rumors start appearing, to take them a little more seriously than the vast majority of trade rumors.
Which means, like all trades, it probably won't happen. But don't dismiss it entirely.
ESPN Insider Chad Ford has been a machine lately, and now has sources saying Kevin McHale is fielding offers for his star. Contracts will make it tough for the Bulls to get Garnett, which leaves this potential deal, as Ford writes:
From what I'm hearing -- and at this point it's just a hot rumor -- the Wolves and Boston Celtics are talking about a Garnett deal.
In this scenario, Boston would send Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and change to Minnesota along with the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft. In exchange, the Celtics would get Garnett.
While a six-for-one trade would create some awkward roster dilemmas, it could work for Boston in this case because the Celtics would be giving up only one member of their core: Jefferson. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves would get an emerging low-post star, a wing player with a lot of upside, another high draft pick and future cap flexibility.
I don't know how real this is, but it's appealing, huh? The Celtics get someone on Paul Pierce's timetable, while the Timberwolves get that rebuild underway. Of course, it's stressful to trade away one of the best big men in the game. But with Garnett's contract and Minnesota's roster, it's tough to envision that team contending anytime soon (unless Randy Foye goes insane!).
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Post by Chicago on Jun 18, 2007 17:55:25 GMT -5
Shopping a Big-Ticket item? T'wolves taking steps to assess Garnett's trade value Posted: Monday June 18, 2007 4:08PM; Updated: Monday June 18, 2007 5:06PM Are the Minnesota Timberwolves moving closer to trading Kevin Garnett? Sources from several NBA teams say the Wolves have been making calls to gauge Garnett's trade value throughout the league. The most provocative conversation of which I've heard has been with the Phoenix Suns, who are said to be ambivalent about moving 24-year-old Amaré Stoudemire to Minnesota in a package for Garnett, 31.
A league source understood the talks with Phoenix to be in a preliminary stage, saying, "They're not hot yet.''It may be that the Wolves are merely assessing Garnett's value amid speculation by rival teams that they've kept him too long. Some league executives feel that Garnett's worth has diminished after absorbing 11 years of mileage while proving unable to carry the Wolves to the playoffs since 2003-04, when they reached the Western Conference finals with KG as league MVP alongside Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Yet Garnett recently is coming off one of his best seasons. After being slowed by a knee problem in 2005-06, the 6-foot-11 Garnett recovered to lead the NBA in its all-around "efficiency'' statistic while averaging 22.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals. Garnett enters the upcoming season with leverage: He could opt out of his contract next summer, foregoing his guaranteed salary of $23 million in 2008-09 in order to join a contender as a free agent or by forcing a sign-and-trade. At the very least, it makes sense for the Timberwolves to find out how much he is worth, given Garnett's contract status. They are obligated to explore all potential options to improve after winning 65 games the past two years. They can couch their Garnett discussions as an evaluation process they undertake every summer. But Minnesota's queries have more of an edge this year. My understanding is that the calls about Garnett are being made by GM Jim Stack, which enables Minnesota VP Kevin McHale to maintain deniability on possible trades. It allows McHale to honestly say that he hasn't talked to other teams about Garnett. There is a belief among his NBA colleagues that McHale remained with the Timberwolves this season to make the decision on Garnett's future once and for all. If Garnett is to be moved, then McHale will take the hit for doing it, which would allow McHale's successor (rumored to be assistant GM Fred Hoiberg) to start fresh without being held responsible for dealing the best player in franchise history. Stack is more than up to the job of assessing Garnett's value. He is one of the league's promising young executives after serving as assistant VP for four years to Jerry Krause during the Bulls' championship era. If Phoenix were to acquire the 2004 MVP, the Suns would be seeking to win a championship immediately by uniting him with MVP successor Steve Nash, who is 33, and All-Star forward Shawn Marion, 29. Garnett would strengthen Phoenix's team defense while fitting seamlessly with their up-tempo offense.
But the Suns also would be surrendering an opportunity to extend their title run beyond Nash's prime. Stoudemire's youth gives them hope of remaining in contention long after Nash is done playing. The 6-10 Stoudemire recovered from 2005 microfracture knee surgery to average 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds while playing all 82 games for Phoenix. His presence would give Minnesota a chance to rebuild toward contention with a dominant young big man.
The Suns, however, may be asked to consider another trade option for Stoudemire ...The Lakers' options with Kobe Kobe Bryant's insistence on being traded by the Lakers -- reiterated in a recent meeting with owner Jerry Buss -- would leave the Lakers with two obvious options. The first is to keep Bryant, despite his frustration, and prove that they're intent on building a contender around him before he can opt out of his final two years in 2009. The other way to go is replace him by way of trade. Could Stoudemire be that replacement? His age and MVP potential would give the Lakers hope of building a contender around him. I don't see the Lakers making a lesser move involving Bryant, such as the rumored deal sending him to Chicago for a package led by Luol Deng. The Lakers' mystique (and league-leading profitability) depends entirely on contending for championships with MVP talent. Buss moved Shaquille O'Neal to Miami three years ago for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and draft picks, and it's obvious that the Heat got the better of that one. I don't see Buss making a similar deal in this case. If he trades Bryant, he'll want nothing less than to replace him with a fellow superstar, one way or another. If they were to send Bryant to Phoenix for Stoudemire, it would probably initiate a two-pronged plan to build a champion. As one example, they could spend the next three years unloading salary and developing rookie-scale players with the goal of generating enough cap space to land LeBron James or Dwyane Wade when they can opt out in 2010. At that time Stoudemire will be 27, James will be 25 and Wade will be 28. While that kind of plan seems far-fetched, the Lakers aren't allowed to explore anything less than a championship scenario. They are the only franchise in the era of unrestricted free agency to sign a max player who led his new team to a championship (that player was Shaq, who won three titles after signing with L.A. in 1996). If they do trade Bryant, be assured they'll be seeking to replace him sooner than later with an equivalent dominant talent. sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/06/18/garnett.notes/index.html?eref=si_nba
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Post by Denver on Jun 19, 2007 18:18:46 GMT -5
Danny Ainge has verified the rumor of KG to the Celtics. He didn't admit that Green, Jefferson, #5 pick are involved, but he did say they're after KG. Shit. I'm all for going after KG. But not if we have to deal Jefferson as well. I'm trying to think of our lineup if that trade does happen... C- Kendrick Perkins PF- Kevin Garnett SF- Paul Pierce SG- Tony Allen PG- Rajon Rondo Bench- Ryan Gomes, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak You know, it's not that bad at all. Paul+KG could dominate. Perkins is a fantastic defensive player, Allen is too, as is Rondo. The defense would be great, and the offense would be good...if Doc learns how to coach. But I want to keep Al.
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Post by Chicago on Jun 19, 2007 20:29:10 GMT -5
Danny Ainge has verified the rumor of KG to the Celtics. He didn't admit that Green, Jefferson, #5 pick are involved, but he did say they're after KG. Shit. I'm all for going after KG. But not if we have to deal Jefferson as well. I'm trying to think of our lineup if that trade does happen... C- Kendrick Perkins PF- Kevin Garnett SF- Paul Pierce SG- Tony Allen PG- Rajon Rondo Bench- Ryan Gomes, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak You know, it's not that bad at all. Paul+KG could dominate. Perkins is a fantastic defensive player, Allen is too, as is Rondo. The defense would be great, and the offense would be good...if Doc learns how to coach. But I want to keep Al. in the east those 8 players are final fav
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Post by Denver on Jun 19, 2007 20:38:25 GMT -5
No. Those two players are; Paul and KG.
People around the league underestimate the talent of Perkins, Rondo and Allen. Whereas guys like West and Gomes get too much credit.
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Toronto
General Manager
Rawr.
Posts: 478
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Post by Toronto on Jun 19, 2007 21:08:07 GMT -5
No. Those two players are; Paul and KG. People around the league underestimate the talent of Perkins, Rondo and Allen. Whereas guys like West and Gomes get too much credit. lol ur a homer. If the Celts were like u said they wouldn't be missing the playoffs every year now since Obrien left.
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Post by Denver on Jun 19, 2007 21:45:07 GMT -5
No. Those two players are; Paul and KG. People around the league underestimate the talent of Perkins, Rondo and Allen. Whereas guys like West and Gomes get too much credit. lol ur a homer. If the Celts were like u said they wouldn't be missing the playoffs every year now since Obrien left. Fuck off Ed. You don't get it. Former ownership left this team in salary cap hell. Not only did Ainge get them out of it, but he put them in great shape last year. Injuries took the team down. It's not his fault. Sure, trading for Telfair was a bad trade. No doubt about that. But that, in my opinion, was his only bad move. This team has great, young talent, and with one more move they might become "the Raptors of this season." Nobody expected the Raptors to win 47 games. If it weren't for injuries last year (don't make me name them all AGAIN)...this team wouldn't have lost 58 games. No way. They would have snuck in as the 8th seed. There's no doubt in my mind about that. It's a good thing we did so horrible though. Al Jefferson has turned into a star, Rondo has blossomed into a promising point guard, and Allen continued improving (it's too bad he got hurt with another fluky injury, but reports say he's progressing nicely this offseason). Part of me wants to keep Al in Boston...I don't know if it's the right decision to deal for KG, I really don't.
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Toronto
General Manager
Rawr.
Posts: 478
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Post by Toronto on Jun 19, 2007 21:55:18 GMT -5
You said that last year lol.
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Post by Denver on Jun 19, 2007 22:03:32 GMT -5
You said that last year lol. Last year I said this team should be atleast .500 and get an 8 seed. Al Jefferson should improve (he improved a lot more than I thought), Green should improved (got experience, his defense improved, he's still a stupid player though and cant understand Doc's simple system). But injuries took the team down and we missed out on Oden in the draft. Now we have to pray for Horford or hope someone overpays for the pick.
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Post by Cleveland on Jun 19, 2007 22:11:03 GMT -5
Lmao Ainge is the worst GM in the league period.
Worst then Mitch, Isiah, and mchale.
Celts are another one of those teams taht there fans love there young talent but will continue to be one of the worst teams in the league
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Post by Cleveland on Jun 19, 2007 22:15:48 GMT -5
and btw the thread title is very misleaading. KG is not on the Block. Read the facts and not writers opinions and you will see that. if kg was on the block the lakers of already went very hard at him
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Post by Denver on Jun 19, 2007 23:32:38 GMT -5
Lmao Ainge is the worst GM in the league period. Worst then Mitch, Isiah, and mchale. Celts are another one of those teams taht there fans love there young talent but will continue to be one of the worst teams in the league Lmao at him being worse than Isiah/McHale. Explain back up your opinion.
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Post by Chicago on Jun 20, 2007 0:51:39 GMT -5
Cupcake/Jim "the retard son" Buss make up the worst gm in the league
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Post by Denver on Jun 20, 2007 13:50:20 GMT -5
WEEI has reported that Danny Ainge offered the T-Wolves Wally, Theo Ratliff, Delonte West, #5 pick and Ryan Gomes for KG and Hudson.
*prays Minny pulls the trigger*
I doubt it, but still.
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