It all happened so fast…one day in late July, rumors began popping up on blogs and message boards, stating that the KG-to-Boston deal had been revived. Roughly 48 hours later, Kevin Garnett officially became a Celtic. Here’s a timeline of this wild two-day period:
Sunday, July 29th…
*8:00 PM- Jeff Clark of CelticsBlog.com discusses "the rumor that just won’t die:"
If you put any stock into such things, you’ll notice that the Internet is all abuzz over the rumor that won’t die. Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. It has been discussed at length for months, to the point where I’ve gotten sick of posting about it. But nobody has ever said it was completely ruled out. In fact, as recenly as last week, Mike Gorman told Celticsstuff Live that Ainge was still very interested in Garnett. Well, today there are 3 annonymous sources posting on various forums that the deal is on. That means exactly nothing, …unless it actually happens.
*11:00 PM- Fox Sports becomes the first mainstream media outlet to report the story:
According to multiple sources close to the situation, Danny Ainge and the Celtics have agreed in principle to a deal that would bring the 10-time NBA All-Star from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff and his expiring contract, Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair.
One source said that there could be an official announcement as early as Monday. However, Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said that nothing had been scheduled as of 12 p.m. ET, but that Ainge told him "discussions are still ongoing and it hasn’t quite gotten to that point."
Monday, July 30th…
*6:30 AM- ESPN’s Jackie McMullin reports three potential issues with the trade:
McHale is still pushing for Rondo, Danny is standing firm in not trading him. So far, Danny is winning that argument. Glen Taylor, the Wolves owner might still say no to trading KG. If he gets cold feet, he could still stop the deal. Finally, Money is a concern. With KG asking for a 5 year 125 million dollar extension, will Wyc commit to this and agree to pay luxury tax for years to come?
*11:00 AM- Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald says the deal has been "essentially completed."
One involved source said the final package will have the Celts sending Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a No. 1 pick to Minnesota to acquire Garnett.
Further word is that the Celts and Garnett have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension. You may recall a report here that Danny Ainge would not do the deal without such a guarantee of Garnett’s presence, and it appears now that the perennial All-Star is willing to forego the opt-out in his current deal for next summer and cast his lot with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Celtics.
*12:30 PM- By this point, all promotional images of Garnett had been removed from the Timberwolves website.
*12:45 PM- The Boston Globe’s Shira Springer reports a twist in the Garnett deal:
As the trade currently stands, the Celtics would send Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and two first-round picks to the Timberwolves for Garnett. Al Jefferson is not included in the deal at the moment.
*1:40 PM- Springer now states that Jefferson is back in the mix:
As the trade currently stands, the Celtics would send Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and two first-round picks to the Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett.
*2:50 PM- The Associated Press reports that a deal has been agreed upon:
Kevin Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told the Associated Press on Monday.
Tuesday, July 31st…
*2:00 PM- The Timberwolves officially announce the trade on their website:
The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Tuesday the team has acquired forwards Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes, guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff, along with two first-round draft picks and cash considerations from the Boston Celtics in exchange for forward Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves will receive Boston’s 2009 first-round selection and Minnesota will get back the first-round draft pick the team traded to the Celtics in a January 2006 trade.
"This trade is about improving the Minnesota Timberwolves and improving our team for the future," said Timberwolves Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale. "The past few seasons our on-court performance has been disappointing to our fans, myself, Glen Taylor and the entire organization. Through this trade, we have obtained very talented, young players with a lot of potential, future flexibility with the salary cap and two future first-round NBA draft picks. This will not be an overnight fix, but it is the big step in renewing our commitment to build an exciting franchise for our fans."
*5:45 PM- The Celtics hold a press conference to introduce KG.
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