Kevin McHale, Minneosta Timberwolves
Pluses: Took Kevin Garnett's game seriously when he entered the 1995 draft. Did as well as could be reasonably expected when Stephon Marbury came out with a trade demand before the trade deadline in March '99 (Minnesota acquired Terrell Brandon and two first-round picks). Managed to pick up Sam Cassell just before a career year and Latrell Sprewell in '03-04, which resulted in a trip to the conference finals that could have been even more if Cassell hadn't gotten hurt in the playoffs. With Garnett's deal limiting his maneuverability, McHale was often able to find cheap role players (LaPhonso Ellis, Reggie Slater, Dean Garrett, Ervin Johnson, Kendall Gill) who worked well within former coach Flip Saunders' offensive schemes.
Minuses: Wasted Garnett's career. McHale has done more than that, but this is about as grievous a misdeed as we can imagine in all of pro sports. Think of all the smooth transactions that the Spurs' brain trust has made to help Tim Duncan, reverse that, add a few 6-2 shooting guards and an illegal signing, and you have McHale's time in Minnesota. More specifically: McHale burned a draft pick from the Marbury trade on Wally Szczerbiak; lost draft picks thanks to an illegal deal with Joe Smith; used first-round picks on William Avery and Ndudi Ebi; acquired a series of combo guards who can't play big minutes at the point (Mike James, Marko Jaric, Rashad McCants, Randy Foye, Troy Hudson, Shane Heal); dumped Flip Saunders; dumped Dwane Casey (the Wolves were 20-20 at the time of Casey's firing last season and finished 12-30 under Randy Wittman even with no major injuries); and refused to entertain the notion of trading Garnett until all other options were exhausted.
Bottom line: There is still hope. A Garnett deal with Boston (for Al Jefferson, assorted other youngsters and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract) would be nice, though we don't see Phoenix getting desperate enough to send Amaré Stoudemire to Minnesota for KG. Chicago is out of the picture unless McHale wants to take on Ben Wallace (we wouldn't put that past him). Meanwhile, right now the Wolves are capped out for 2007-08. They have the seventh pick in this year's draft, but they will have to relinquish a first-rounder (top 10 protected through '11) to the Clippers soon enough as part of the Jaric trade. Whether McHale will be around by then, we don't know -- owner Glen Taylor always seems ready with an excuse or 12 for his team's vice president.