duncan228
11-04-2009, 02:35 PM
Time For Minny To Stop Revisiting KG Trade (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-timeforminnytostopre&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews
We all know what happened in Boston. Kevin Garnett rode into town, Ray Allen welcomed him with his green body paint still wet all over and Paul Pierce got the lift he needed. Doc Rivers showed his true colors, united the team, made defense a priority and convinced some kid named Rondo to become the perfect supporting PG stud.
But what about back in the wilds in Minnesota, from where KG came running and never looked back? As Garnett returns to the Target Center tonight, now's as good as any to take stock of the trade. We all know about Al Jefferson, and injuries aside, Big Al does a lot to compensate for the loss of the irreplaceable Ticket. As for everyone else, though, that's another story.
From the Pioneer Press (http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_13707600?nclick_check=1):
The issue for Wolves fans is what the club got in return. Of the five players who came from the Celtics, only Jefferson and Ryan Gomes are still with the team. One of the five, guard Gerald Green, was traded to Houston before finishing his first season with the Wolves and is now out of the league. Guard Sebastian Telfair was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer, and forward-center Theo Ratliff was waived in the middle of the 2007-08 season.
Looking back, it's hard to tell exactly what the Wolves thought they were getting in addition to Jefferson (not yet a sure thing then, but darn close) and the perennially underrated Gomes. In fact, all wishful thinking about Gerald Green aside, it's not worth going into detail about why these other clowns don't matter. No one thought Minny would get back the real-talent equivalent of what they had with Garnett in his most prime of primes. Even if he's aging now, at the time, the Wolves were trading away that entire bundle of memories.
So now, the focus has shifted, from "was the Garnett deal fair?" to "wait and see with this next wave." The Wolves had to start over at some point. At least this way, they got Jefferson as a building block. Now, it's about Jefferson, along with Kevin Love, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington and who knows, maybe even Ricky Rubio. It's misleading to say that all of this came in the Garnett trade. But in a domino effect, it did come when the team decided to cut ties with its signature player and move on. This deal forced them to accept the inevitable, and provided a head start.
You still have to wonder, though, how this team might look if they had gone for someone other than Rubio (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/32421/in_hindsight,_who_wouldve_been_a_better_fit_in_min nesota_than_rubio?). They might be in better shape this season, and the bottom line of the Wolves' situation is this: The more they move along, the less it matters if the Garnett deal was "fair."
SportingNews
We all know what happened in Boston. Kevin Garnett rode into town, Ray Allen welcomed him with his green body paint still wet all over and Paul Pierce got the lift he needed. Doc Rivers showed his true colors, united the team, made defense a priority and convinced some kid named Rondo to become the perfect supporting PG stud.
But what about back in the wilds in Minnesota, from where KG came running and never looked back? As Garnett returns to the Target Center tonight, now's as good as any to take stock of the trade. We all know about Al Jefferson, and injuries aside, Big Al does a lot to compensate for the loss of the irreplaceable Ticket. As for everyone else, though, that's another story.
From the Pioneer Press (http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_13707600?nclick_check=1):
The issue for Wolves fans is what the club got in return. Of the five players who came from the Celtics, only Jefferson and Ryan Gomes are still with the team. One of the five, guard Gerald Green, was traded to Houston before finishing his first season with the Wolves and is now out of the league. Guard Sebastian Telfair was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer, and forward-center Theo Ratliff was waived in the middle of the 2007-08 season.
Looking back, it's hard to tell exactly what the Wolves thought they were getting in addition to Jefferson (not yet a sure thing then, but darn close) and the perennially underrated Gomes. In fact, all wishful thinking about Gerald Green aside, it's not worth going into detail about why these other clowns don't matter. No one thought Minny would get back the real-talent equivalent of what they had with Garnett in his most prime of primes. Even if he's aging now, at the time, the Wolves were trading away that entire bundle of memories.
So now, the focus has shifted, from "was the Garnett deal fair?" to "wait and see with this next wave." The Wolves had to start over at some point. At least this way, they got Jefferson as a building block. Now, it's about Jefferson, along with Kevin Love, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington and who knows, maybe even Ricky Rubio. It's misleading to say that all of this came in the Garnett trade. But in a domino effect, it did come when the team decided to cut ties with its signature player and move on. This deal forced them to accept the inevitable, and provided a head start.
You still have to wonder, though, how this team might look if they had gone for someone other than Rubio (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/32421/in_hindsight,_who_wouldve_been_a_better_fit_in_min nesota_than_rubio?). They might be in better shape this season, and the bottom line of the Wolves' situation is this: The more they move along, the less it matters if the Garnett deal was "fair."