Western Notes: Pierce, Mitchell, Howard

Paul Pierce‘s decision on whether to retire after the season may be tied to what Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett chooses to do, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports. The former Celtics teammates text each other at least once a week and have frequently considered the possibility of retiring at the same time, Murphy continues. But the Clippers’ veteran small forward admits that he has no idea what Garnett has in mind, Murphy adds. “I never know what KG is going to do, because he said he was going to retire four or five years ago,” Pierce said. “Every year he says he’s done, and every year he keeps coming back. It would be great.”

In other developments around the Western Conference:

• Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor will decide on interim coach Sam Mitchell’s future after the season, according to Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While GM Milt Newton will give his input on Mitchell, Taylor will have the final word, as he told Youngblood. “Certainly it starts with Milt. But I don’t want to say it’s his call,” Taylor said. “It’s probably my call.’’
• Dwight Howard switched agents because Perry Rogers doesn’t have a large clientele, he told NBA.com’s David Aldridge in a Q&A session. The Rockets center hired Rogers after parting ways with Dan Fegan. Rogers is also Shaquille O’Neal’s agent and O’Neal brought Howard and Rogers together, Howard goes on to tell Aldridge. “I just felt like he has an opportunity to just focus on me,” Howard said. “Any other agent, they have a lot of different clients and stuff like that. I felt like he was able to just focus on me.”
• Jazz coach Quin Snyder believes fatigue may be the cause of center Rudy Gobert‘s recent swoon, Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News writes. Gobert, who’ll be up for a rookie scale extension in the offseason, averaged just 5.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks during the team’s last recent five-game road trip. “He’s probably hit the proverbial wall and had to make adjustments in season,” Snyder told Sorensen. “Last year after All-Star break was a very finite stretch of time with a completely different mindset in how [opponents] approach him. Last year people weren’t prepared to play against him and now he’s garnering much more attention.”