Black Monday

Kevin Garnett is a Celtic. Damn I hate saying that. A deal was all but finished on Monday, with an official announcement coming tomorrow after figuring out the smaller details of the deal. Personally, I feel betrayed by owner Glen Taylor and GM Kevin McHale. After the deal wasn't completed before the draft, it sounded like the Wolves were indeed going to keep KG. Of course I want success for KG, but I'd rather have success for the Wolves. With the loss of KG, there is no way that the Wolves are a better team. Of course, McHale got himself into this mess by signing players to bad contracts, leaving him no option but to trade KG. Best of luck to KG, you officially just made the Celtics the best team in the East.

The proposed deal-

To the Celtics:
Kevin Garnett

To the Timberwolves:
Al Jefferson
Gerald Green
Sebastian Telfair
Theo Ratliff
Two #1 draft picks (one of which was originally the Wolves draft pick)
Ryan Gomes (rumored)

With a once in a century guy like KG, you hate to see him go. Fortunately, this trade is a best case scenario for the Wolves. They obtain guys who can help right away in Jefferson and Green, a guy with potential (Gomes) and cap room once the contracts of Telfair and Ratliff expire. The deal would have gotten my complete blessing had the Wolves been able to unload one of their bad contracts, like Troy Hudson or Marko Jaric.

The Wolves quickly become a team with very little veteran leadership. Also, they will be losing their most tenured Wolves player once they buyout Troy Hudson's contract. The Wolves roster, as of tomorrow:

PG - Randy Foye
SG - Ricky Davis
SF - Gerald Green
PF - Al Jefferson
C - Mark Blount

Bench:
Marko Jaric
Theo Ratliff
Ryan Gomes
Corey Brewer
Mark Madsen
Rashad McCants
Craig Smith
Trenton Hassell
Juwon Howard
Troy Hudson
Sebastian Telfair

Based on the amount of players currently on the Timberwolves roster, and the number of players they can carry, expect more trades. Hudson will definitely be bought out, and Brewer won't be traded. Ratliff and Telfair will give them cap space after the season. Expect the Wolves to trade at least Ricky Davis and Trenton Hassell. Gomes, Jefferson, and Green are players the wolves will want to try and re-sign after the season, so they most likely will not be traded either. Obviously, at this point the Wolves are overstocked, and more roster moves are inevitable. There is one guarantee though...the Wolves will be nearly unrecognizable next year.

The Friday Run-down

• This weekend is the Twins final series before the All-Star break. The Twins are sending centerfielder Torii Hunter, first baseman Justin Morneau, and ace Johan Santana. Unfortunately, Pat Neshek's 32nd man bid couldn't beat the continent of Asia and the Boston faithful who got Hideki Okajima elected.

• It's nice to see a company taking responsibility for something they screwed up.

• After Kevin Slowey's start yesterday in New York, Slowey was sent back down to the minors for at least the All-Star break, if not longer. The Twins don't need a 5th starter until July 21st, which leads me to believe that this is only temporary, just to get Carmen Cali more innings at the major league level. Slowey more than likely will be brought back up at that point for the remainder of the season. Slowey was yanked rather quickly from the rotation, and while he is sporting an ERA above 5, his record is still 3-0. I have little doubt that Slowey will be starting against the Angels on July 21st.

• We all know that Mark Cuban has a HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGE wallet. Too bad the NBA isn't like baseball, or Cuban would have already bought Garnett just like the Yankees bought Babe Ruth, and doomed the Timberwolves to 80+ years of failure. What this means is that Cuban would need to trade some players of value in return for Garnett. The only reported trade that could work is Josh Howard, Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop and Greg Buckner for KG. Cuban is in love with Howard and Harris, so there is virtually no way that KG will be wearing a Mavs jersey next year.

• It's amazing how a toy from the 80's could turn into the '07 summer's best movie.

• Jason Kubel, after hitting the go-ahead home run on Wednesday, was held out of the lineup on Thursday. Gardy knows what he is doing most times, but he has handled the Kubel/Tyner/Ford playing time horribly this year. Neither Ford nor Tyner deserve playing time unless it is forced upon Gardy, yet he inexplicably keeps trotting them out there for at least one start a series. Kubel then hit a pinch hit single in the 9th on Thursday, and in the first game of today's doubleheader Kubel hit a grand slam and is 2 for 2 with 5 RBI. I'm predicting that Gardy will sit Kubel for game 2 of the doubleheader for reasons that only make sense to himself.

• Corey Brewer, who wore #2 at Florida, is now wearing #22 with the Wolves. He had wanted to wear #2, but it is a retired number. The number belonged to the late, great Malik Sealy, who died much too young at the hands of a drunk driver who has already finished his prison sentence. This got me thinking back to the days of Sealy, and when the Wolves needed a clutch shot Sealy was ALWAYS there to deliver. I can't help but feel like the loss of Sealy was one the Wolves have never truly recovered from.

• How could one little prairie dog, in 5 seconds, create such a cult following.

• Ken Griffey, Jr and Barry Roids...excuse me...Bonds are both absent from this years Home Run Derby. I understand that they don't want to hurt themselves, but the fans voted them to the All-Star game, and the least they could do is compete in the Derby. In a summer where everyone is watching each home run that Bonds hits, he should be in the Derby. This year especially, since it could be his last, and its his home field. Griffey won two consecutive Derbys back in 1998 and 1999, but hasn't competed since 2000. In this, his year of resurgence, it would have been nice to see he and Bonds compete against the young guns like Justin Morneau, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, and Miguel Cabrera. I'll watch the Derby anyway, but it won't be nearly as entertaining without Bonds and Griffey there.

• Halloween this early?

• The Twins have already waived their "no negotiating during season" for Santana this year, meaning that they are willing to bend the rules to keep him. Hopefully they are willing to bend the payroll a bit too, because he is going to be expensive. My thoughts? Sign Santana no matter what, let Nathan walk, make an attempt at Hunter, move Neshek to closer, and move Guerrier to setup man. The Twins are already planning on expanding their budget for the new stadium, so its best to start with re-signing the second coming of Nolan Ryan.

That's it for now, have a great weekend everyone!

The prospects of a KG to Warriers trade

The best of the reported trades thus far, a trade with the Golden State Warriors is an interesting one to think of. The Timberwolves strongest position the last several years, held by KG, was the SF/PF spot. Interestingly, in any of these reported trades (except a trade with Phoenix in which we would get Amare Stoudemire), the Wolves wouldn't be addressing this position, instead acquiring other position players at center and guard. I'm going to examine what would happen to the Timberwolves roster in the case that this proposed Golden State deal happens.

PG - Randy Foye
SG - Monta Ellis
SF - Corey Brewer/Ricky Davis (If he is still with the team)
PF - Andris Biedrins/Al Harrington
C - Mark Blount

Backups
PG - ?
SG - Rashad McCants
SG/SF - Marko Jaric
SF - Trenton Hassell (He will most likely be traded, since Corey Brewer is basically a better Trenton Hassell)
SF/PF - Brandan Wright
PF - Juwon Howard
PF - Craig Smith
PF/C - Mark Madsen
C - Patrick O'Bryant

While this is a MUCH different looking lineup than last year, with the only returning starter from the beginning of last year being Mark Blount, the roster looks very solid. Whereas the starters are weaker without Garnett in the lineup, with bench is much stronger than last years team with quality backups at every single position instead of just at the guard positions.

I see the proposed trade going...

Monta Ellis, Patrick O'Bryant, Al Harrington, Brandan Wright, and a future draft pick (hopefully a first) for Kevin Garnett and Troy Hudson (which is why I didn't put Hudson on the above roster).

O'Bryant doesn't have very good looking stats, but he was a top ten pick in last years draft, and as Stephen A. Smith so delicately puts it "YOU CAN'T TEACH HEIGHT!!!." O'Bryant is a 7'0'' center, and weighs 10 pounds more than current Wolves center Mark Blount. O'Bryant never was truly given an opportunity to play last season, and could excel playing for his hometown team (O'Bryant went to Blaine High School). Wright has a ton of potential, but will need to be brought along slowly. NBAdraft.net compares him to Chris Bosh/Shareef Abdur-Rahim, and those are two players who have experienced success in the NBA. He will eventually be a very good player though, and he showed flashes of brilliance at times last year at UNC.

The greatest part of this trade is that not only do Monta Ellis and Al Harrington/Andris Biedrins allow us to compete now, but O'Bryant and Wright give us two big guys to build our franchise around once they develop. We would also have Foye, McCants and Brewer, giving us 6 guys from the last 3 drafts. Our team would be young, but could be great within a few years.

As a result of the Jason Richardson trade, the Warriors now hold a $10 million trade exception, which it is assumed they would use in the Garnett deal to make it more appealing. They could take any one of McHale's horrible deals that he has made, but Hudson has the least worth due to his horrible contract and lack of playing time.

The team would then need to acquire a backup point guard for Foye through trades, but it looks like Davis and Hassell could be traded.

In other words, I'm saying that in this case, I believe the Wolves would be a better team after the trade than before it, and that's always the point of a trade, right?

The Rumor Mill part tres

Great article here by ESPN.com's Marc Stein. It lists the potential trade suitors for the Wolves, and the assets that could be tradeable to the Wolves. Stein lists the suitors as most of the teams we already know (Suns, Warriors, Celtics, Mavs, Lakers), and also brings the Bulls back into the equation. Based upon this article, it looks as if the most realistic place for KG to wind up are still Phoenix and Golden State. In an interesting note in the article, it is reported that every move Golden State GM Chris Mullin is making is to position the team to acquire KG. I also think that they have the most enticing deal to offer the Wolves, since they would be getting at least Monta Ellis and Brandan Wright. Any deal with the Suns that doesn't involve Amare Stoudemire would be a rip-off for the Wolves. Keep posted for more KG trade rumors and information.

NBA Draft Night

Well we are just minutes from the NBA draft and there are only two guarantees in tonights draft; Greg Oden will be a Blazer and Kevin Durant will be a Sonic. Kevin Garnett is still a member of the Timberwolves, but that could change if they can find a third team for the Suns trade. ESPN reported that the Charlotte Bobcats are the new rumored facilitator in the trade, with the Wolves getting the 8th pick and a player. This seems like a far cry from the Hawks trade proposed yesterday, which was far and above better than this proposed trade, unless the player is not just a throw in like the Hawks trade. My biggest fear is that Kevin McHale feels he HAS to trade Garnett, and all we get is a pick and a player when we could get so much more. What I don't understand is if Amare Stoudemire is the player being moved, why the Wolves don't just trade straight up with the Suns and get him back. I guess I'll never understand the brilliant mind (read: IQ 85) of Kevin McHale. Also, as I told Court earlier in the day, if the Wolves take Spencer Hawes, who McHale likes because he is a younger, crappier version of himself, I'm switching franchises to root for. I'll even create a poll for what new team to root for and people can vote on it. Anyway, I'll be doing pick by pick analysis once the draft starts.

The final mock draft at NBAdraft.net has the Wolves taking Joakim Noah.

First thing they discussed with the draft coverage was the KG trade, and it was reported that no trade will occur with Kevin Garnett. In other news, former Wally Sczcerbiak could have a new team in a proposed trade with the Sonics that also involves Ray Allen, Delonte West, and the number 5 pick.

Joakim Noah looks likes he's prepared to be selected by the WNBA with his hairdo. Maybe he can play for the Lynx too if the Wolves take him.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

Update: So they have already reversed what they said earlier, and apparently the Wolves and the WARRIORS are talking trade. Who knows anymore. Whatever the team, it looks like KG definitely won't be suiting up in the Wolves colors next year

Trade Talks Continue

According to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the proposed Kevin Garnett trade yesterday with 4 teams involved will not be happening, at least not as proposed. Apparently the Celtics weren't thrilled about giving up Al Jefferson for Jermaine O'Neal. Ford reported that it could become a 3 team deal with the Pacers left out, with KG moving to LA, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom going to the Celts, and Boston giving up the 5 pick in this draft, and the '09 first round pick of the Wolves that they are already holding. No doubt the Wolves would receive a player in the deal also, but that was unknown as to who it is. Ford also said that the deal could become just a two team deal with the Lakers and Wolves, but Kevin McHale made it known that he doesn't like Bynum and Odom enough to do the deal straight up, so the Wolves would need to be getting this done. All this trade talk with Garnett will end Thursday, because either he will have been traded by then, or the draft will have gone by and the Wolves will have gotten no picks in this years draft, all but assuring them of keeping KG.