Big Ticket

I don’t know much about the NBA, and I don’t have a lot to say about it, but since I have a blog, I figure I can throw my two cents in real quick about the only team and player I know a whole lot about, Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves. The big controversy right now is whether or not we should trade him over the offseason. I find the debate to be relatively interesting, and against my better judgement have come to a couple of opinions. Here I go.
Now, you know how I feel about Kirby Puckett, and it seems to me, someone who isn’t a professional basketball fan, that Kevin Garnett is filling the void of Minnesota sports hero. He’s hard-working, passionate, easy to interview, active in the community, loyal, and a perennial all-star. Namely, he likes us, and for that, we like him.
The fundamental difference between Kirby and KG, of course, was that Kirby got rings, and KG hasn’t. So what do we do? How do we get Garnett those rings he so desperately deserves, and we, the people of Minnesota, want him to have? The popular opinion espoused by the major sports media outlets is that Garnett should be traded, and in some sense, a lot of local fans agree. With the trend the Timberwolves have been following, it may be the only way to get Garnett on a winning team. But is it really?
At best, the team we trade Garnett to gives up a few draft picks and a young player. In other words, they sacrafice their future in order to get him, so Garnett gets only one, maybe two years to get to the promised land on this new team before his new team turns into a barren wasteland. Worst case scenario, the new team has to give up so much of its present that it drops from the elite status that Garnett wished to attain. I think the best thing to do, both for his own personal psyche, as well as for his championship aspirations is to stay in Minnesota.
But is that the best thing for the Timberwolves? Yes and no. Yes, quite simply, because Garnett seems overvalued. They could pull off an epic trade and have a solid, core to build on for the future. It was what the Twins did with the Chuck Knoblauch trade in the mid nineties, acquiring starter Eric Milton, sparkplug Cristian Guzman and Brian Buchanan, all members of the Twins squad that eventually turned it around (Milton and Buchanan have since been traded for Carlos Silva, Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett).
But then there is the landscape of Minnesota sports. The Vikings are mired in the Loveboat Scandal, The Twins are tumbling from their seat atop the AL Central and the Wild decided against spending money and were mired in the NHL basement this year. The Timberwolves don’t want to end up on Patrick Ruesse’s bad side by getting rid of Minneapolis’ premier athlete. Ticket sales would plummet, as would the respectability of the franchise.
I think the most appropriate thing for the Wolves to do is keep Garnett and be very aggressive this off-season on the free-agent and trade market. They do need to make a trade for another draft pick for another athlete in the backcourt to pair with Rashad McCants, or another lanky outfielder. Then, they need a better option at point, and a big man in the middle so KG can use his athleticism outside a little more. It’s a lot to do, but if I can write an entire post on the NBA, I think the Wolves can start to turn things around this off-season. – Ryan