http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/15875244.htm
After all the speculation, Kevin Garnett remains a Timberwolf.
That's a fact, despite the talk from media types, fans and everyone else
with an opinion about whether he should be, or might want to be, traded.
If the Wolves struggle again this season, which begins with Wednesday night's
opener against Sacramento, there will be another wave of reports centered on
that subject. The gossip took on a life of its own last season, when the New
York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, among others, were tossed
around as possible new homes for the former NBA most valuable player.
"He's here," said teammate Trenton Hassell, one of Garnett's closest friends.
"That's the only thing that matters. All that he said, she said, you don't
listen to that. Until he comes out and says something, he's going to be here.
He's always had a great attitude. I never had a sense that it was going that
way."
Vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale dismisses the talk about
Garnett.
"I base my conversations on talking to Kevin myself, not on what people are
writing," McHale said.
So if Garnett doesn't go anywhere, the issue becomes whether the Wolves can
win with him. He led them to eight consecutive postseason appearances —
seven first-round losses before a breakthrough trip to the 2004 Western
Conference finals.
But after missing the playoffs the past two seasons, now what?
"The window has not closed for Kevin and this organization to win a
championship," Casey said. "We're knocking on the door and building
to that point right now."
Garnett, who turned 30 in May, is starting his 12th season, and he has
logged more than 32,000 minutes in his career, more time than McHale played
in his 13 NBA seasons.
Garnett's statistics last season dipped in some key areas but still were
impressive. He averaged 21.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
He led the league in rebounding for the third consecutive year, and
his 52.6 percent shooting marked his career best. And yet there's room to
debate whether it was a down year for him.
He was a reserve at the NBA All-Star Game last season, the first time in six
years that fans didn't vote him a starter.
"People say he had a bad year; he still averaged 20 and 13," Hassell said.
"It's just his team didn't do so well, so that's what it is. Ticket is going
to be Ticket. It's us, the other guys. His numbers were the same last year.
It's not like he's declining. It's on our shoulders. His teammates have to
step up."
Garnett recently said he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone regarding
his play.
"I have everything to prove to myself," he said. "That's how I've always
taken it."
A nine-time all-star, Garnett has proved his individual skill. Coach Dwane
Casey said Garnett remains one of the NBA's best athletes.
"I don't see any slippage in his game whatsoever," Casey said. "His cerebral
play has elevated. He knows the nuances of the game. He's one of our best
teachers with the young players. All that stuff about Kevin being on the
decline, I haven't seen it. He still has another three or four years at a
very high level. What we have to do is get the guys around him at a high
level with smart play around him."
That's the key, perhaps. What remains a lingering issue: Can Garnett carry
a team to a championship and make his teammates better enough to help him
do it?
In 2003-04, the most successful season in franchise history, Sam Cassell
and Latrell Sprewell were big parts of the team and gave Garnett the veteran
help he needed.
Is Garnett more Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan? In other words, is he
better suited as an elite complementary player instead of a clear-cut lead
option?
"That's totally unfair," Casey said. "Kevin Garnett has carried the team
all those years they made the playoffs. He's definitely going to be in the
Hall of Fame. He can score with the best of them, and he's one of the best
defenders in the league."
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