I like Charley's way of thinking.
Garnett to L.A. makes sense
Charley Rosen
Special to FOXSports.com
What with all the rumors, the affirmations, and the denials coming out of Minnesota, one thing is clear: The T-Wolves absolutely must trade Kevin Garnett.
The only other alternative is for Glen Taylor to start writing checks humongous enough to attract one or more blue-chip free agents like Chauncey Billups, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter or Gerald Wallace. While doing this would certainly subject the Wolves to an equally humongous over-the-cap surcharge, necessity is often the forerunner of humongous profits. Since players do not receive paychecks during the playoffs, Taylor would probably recoup his expenditures should his team advance into the second round.
It's all about priming the pump. Spending money to make money.
Barring this foray into adventurous capitalism, there will be no way for the Wolves to significantly enhance their roster by any other means. Dealing Mike James and Justin Reed for Juwan Howard is not nearly enough of a tweak for KG to regain his lost enthusiasm and relish playing another season in Minnesota. Nor do the Wolves have sufficient remaining chips to make a meaningful trade.
The only real questions left are these: Where will Garnett wind up? And which possible destination is best for him?
Apparently, the only exchange that Kevin McHale will agree to with Phoenix is KG (and several warm bodies) for Amare Stoudemire (and several warm bodies). Too bad neither Garnett nor Stoudemire would find any degree of solace by changing places.
Garnett in Phoenix wouldn't work simply because KG cannot run with Steve Nash. Garnett has always been a go-from-a-stop player. Having to receive the ball, and then make appropriate decisions while at full speed would displace Garnett from his comfort zone. For sure, his occasional running dunk would be dramatic, but so would KG's turnovers, poor passes and weary legs.
Since Stoudemire is an excellent finisher and a subpar creator, he'll find that life without Nash will be a nightmare of battling his way through double-teams. Operating on his own, Stoudemire will be forced into putting up many more difficult shots than he's used to taking, and his shooting percentage will plummet.
Any swap involving Garnett for Stoudemire would be bad for both teams.
Another widely rumored transaction features KG going to the Lakers for Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. In fact, this would be Garnett's best possible destination. Playing in the triangle would maximize Garnett's versatility, i.e., his ability to pass, and to score from both the high- and the low-post, as well as minimizing the body contact (invariably with bigger, stronger opponents) that working in other offensive schemes would subject him to. Garnett would likewise thrive in the unselfish game plan preached by Phil Jackson.
But the biggest plus in KG's suiting up for the Lakers would be the presence of Kobe Bryant. The fact is that Garnett is NOT a franchise player. He lacks the clutch-time charisma and reliability to carry a ball club deep into playoff competition. Only rarely does he reach out and grab a vital ball game by the throat.
Garnett is a counter-puncher, a shadow-boxer.
Living in Kobe's long shadow, and having Kobe responsible for producing in virtually all end-game situations, would free Garnett to play under greatly reduced pressure. Perhaps Garnett's scoring totals would decrease, but his shooting percentage would sky-rocket.
At the other end of the transaction, Odom would be a monster with the majority of Minnesota's offense going through him. He could easily post Garnett-like numbers with the Wolves.
Of course there's the problem of Odom's most recent shoulder surgery. There's obviously some kind of structural weakness in his left shoulder that the latest surgery either will or will not cure. However, with an agreeable prognosis from the surgeons, Odom would present a risk well worth the taking.
Bynum is a potential stud in the middle whose resume is insufficient in only two particulars: Experience. And work ethic. Hopefully, and presumably, Bynum's relocating from the Hollywood Lakers to the Wolves' winter wonderland would get him to take the game and his own considerable abilities much more seriously.
It's easy to project Bynum as eventually becoming an 18-10 man in the middle. A rare commodity.
Despite the pieces fitting so neatly together, it seems unlikely that McHale will ever enter into any deal with the Lakers. That's because there's too much bad blood still congealed in his memory bank from the fierce rivalry that existed between Boston and Los Angeles during his playing career.
The guess is that McHale would much rather do business with Danny Ainge. But with the Celtics' blockbuster trade on draft day, that avenue seems to be closed.
The latest entry into the Garnett sweepstakes is the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs would probably seek to unload most of their trash — Austin Croshere, Erick Dampier, Devean George and Jason Terry, while including bona-fide players such as Devin Harris or Josh Howard. While the Wolves might try to dump flotsam like Ricky Davis, Troy Hudson, Marko Jaric, Mark Blount and Mark Madsen combined with semi-legitimate talents such as Trenton Hassell and Craig Smith. But it's hard to imagine the Wolves accepting any package that fails to include Dirk Nowitzki.
Trouble is that a Nowitzki-Garnett swap would be a lateral move for both teams since both of these guys are high-scoring stars that fail in the clutch.
Nothing would be accomplished in this unlikely scenario except a change of address for a pair of big-name players.
The Warriors have also been trying to pry Garnett loose. Nearly everybody who's ever played for Nellie swears they've had a good time. That's because Nellie mostly lets his guys play one-on-one or two-on-two ball with few restrictions.
There's no doubt that Garnett might also enjoy running loose in Oakland. But does he really long to play harum-scarum basketball for a team that's perpetually destined to fall at the hands of the first disciplined team they face in the playoffs? If that kind of spectacular, individualistic, yet frivolous game plan appeals to Garnett, then all the less power to him.
In lieu of any other possible deals, the Lakers are the Big Ticket's best possible destination.
