Even at age 39, Kevin Garnett is looking toward the future, writes Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders. The veteran forward signed a two-year, $16.5MM with the Wolves this week, but he may be more valuable as a mentor than as a player. He is expected to help mold No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns, who joins a talented young core that includes Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, Tyus Jones, Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins. “I’m excited to be part of this process for the future,” Garnett said. “I can’t wait to build something special with this group of guys. Hopefully, I can help, teach, and also continue to grow and learn from the young guys. It should be great. I’m looking forward to it all. The process to greatness starts now!”
There’s more out of Minnesota this afternoon:
- Minnesota coach/executive Flip Saunders said he expects Garnett to be the team’s starting power forward and play in some back-to-back games, according to Jerry Zgoda of The Star-Tribune. Garnett played just five games for the Wolves after being acquired from the Nets in a February deal.
- The Wolves have no immediate plans to part ways with Damjan Rudez, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Additionally, Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press tweets Saunders said he likes Rudez’s shooting range and that Rudez will be brought to camp to compete for playing time.
- Nemanja Bjelica is expected to sign his deal with the Wolves soon, according to Wolfson (Twitter link).
Will Joseph contributed to this post.
Hey Wolves fans. Any possibility that Kevin Martin might be up for grabs for salary relief? I would love it if Haywood’s expiring contact and maybe a draft pick or rights to an overseas player could bring Martin to the Cavs. It could clear about $8-$12 mil of your books (I’d you guys had another contact you wanted to get rid of).
Is that realistic?
Likely only if they have another move in mind. Trading Buddinger leaves them light on wings that can shoot, and though he’s very promising, Lavine is still a work in progress and it’s probably better suited to begin the year coming off the bench. I think with the roster as currently constructed, the FO values Martin’s scoring, foul shooting, and experience. Plus, while they are over the cap his deal isn’t terrible (like Pek’s) and they could be sneaky competetive this year, so ultimately i think it’s doubtful. You never know, though.
Thanks. I don’t think they’ll be any better than a 40 win team but I guess they would still want to be entertaining rather than saving $$$. Good luck this year (said without sarcasm).