One of the rumors floating around is that Minny are trying to shift Jaric and Hudson - thus are giving them plenty of burn (to showcase them)... But yeah - Craig Smith could be one of the steals of the draft - about bloody time Minnesota made a decent 2nd round pick!!!...

Methinks it is a buyers - not sellers market for those two catz... BUT - if they are contemplating shifting KG and one or both of those guys as required throwins (or deal makers - Jaric's contract is especially crippling... it would be nice to be free of it...) then it makes sense... I have been a T-Wolves fan since the Doug West, Laettner, JR Rider days... but i think it's about time KG got a chance to play for a team with management with at least a semblance of an iota of a clue... How the ###k they had the forsight to even draft KG is beyond me (dumb luck???) but there has been a litany of terrible decisions made by the front office - the Joe Smith wink wink deal (that was put in writing - DUH), suss free agent moves - not resigning Cassell (YAY - JARIC!!!) - signing KandiMan, wasted 1st round picks (Paul Grant, Ndudi Ebi, William Avery - probably a good thing that they lost 4-5 first rounders due to the J Smith thing, cause they would have wasted them anyway - there would be another 4-5 names on that list no doubt...), and a complete inability to find ANY worthy players in the 2nd round - as far as i am concerned - KG has been in purgatory long enough... FREE KG!!!

Nothing is going on in Minni. Common sense dictates that a rookie starts the season on the bench unless he's fills an immediate need (e.g. Roy in Portland), or his name is Lebron, Wade or Melo.

Foye is behind Jaric, Mike James, Hudson and Hassell simple as that. Just because he was good in the preseason doesn't mean jack. Minni is loaded in the guard rotations.

What's screwed the T-Wolves was the Joe Smith stuff-up and to a lesser degree the KG contract which ties the hands of the franchise as far as chasing big name FA.

Look at their roster. Craig Smith is a forward. They are very thin in bigs, plus only have one productive big, KG. Everyone else is shite.... It's quality after KG, the rotation is like Blount, Madsen, Griffin, Reed, Smith and Baker. Quality big man line up there!!!!

They are obliged to play Jaric at the starting PG after they traded for him. Can't have McHale looking like an idiot.....

Trade a potential HoF player for a ticket in the Oden sweepstakes, no thanks.

Personally I think the Wolves are going to be in the stakes for Oden regardless of trading KG or not, just may not be a lot of ping pong balls.

Now here an interesting question. If your franchise landed the number one pick, and Oden was available would you swap the pick (potentiall Oden) for KG????

Lets not slip into bagging KG for his contract or the wolves for giving it to him, He's one of the few worthy max players in the league

If it wasn't the Wolves that offered KG that stupid contract another team would of.

Imaging the outcry in Minni if the Wolves didn't resign him, especially after losing Marbury.

I agree, the contract is what's crippling the Wolves, but every GM would of done exactly the same thing to keep KG.

http://www.hoopshype.com/salaries/minnesota.htm

Wow - there are some howlers here...

Blount - Can play, just seems to not want to... Am going to give him the benefit of the doubt (but he will be on the books for a while yet)... He will get a 1 season grace priod from me - as he has the tools but... he is a tool as well...

BUT: Huddo and ESPECIALLY Jaric - what a mess!!! Those 2nd tier player contracts are worrisome...

I actually reckon that the Wolves are gettimg value for money from KG... not so sure about 24m in ywo years tho.

i think jaric has been very good for the wolves, and is a solid starting PG, dont know what all u guys are talkin about.

Anon #104931, ever heard of someone called Ralph Sampson???

That's a lot of eggs to put in a basket.

Why should garnett have to take a pay cut when he's the only member of the ENTIRE organisation that is actually earning his keep?

KG signed his contract well before (ie 1 year)Marbury left, thats the reason that he left becuase 1 year after KG signed the deal the NBA instituited max contracts for rookies coming into free agency once they finished their initial 3 year rookie deal , the max the Wolves could have offered marbury was 6 years/86 million or thereabouts , Marbury has been quoted as saying he couldn't accept being paid that much less than KG and thats why he forced a trade.

A potential HoF? KG is guarenteed HoF. Even without a ring. He is the most versatile big man of his generation.

xztatik, what are you on about? Jaric solid? he has tanked so many games, never kicked on. Even Cassell laughed at the trade. A potential game breaker and all-star for a below average, untradeable white man!!

Garnett has been one of the only big stars on a crap team to not yell out for a trade. I respect that. Everyone feels sorry for him, they had a half decent run at it 3 years ago, but that dismantled the year later. This year, they won't make the playoffs unless Blount and Jaric start both hitting 20 points a game.

I love the T-wolves and KG, but its a business and I would make the hard call and trade for Oden if it came up! (but I doubt it ever would). Not worth trading KG for anything less than Oden or a young star such as Carmello.

You'd trade KG for Melo???????? Are you mad??? Only two names I'd trade him for are Lebron, the other is Kobe, and even then I want more than a straight swap.

I like Oden for what little I've seen of him, but I'd be very very careful of trading my only bonafide All-Star/NBA First Team player for him. He hasn't proven jack yet, all he does is scream very very loudly 'huge potential'. IMO I think he'll be awesome (I see Durant as being just as good), but at least with KG you know exactly what your getting, right now.

I'd take Melo (and some other player(S)) for KG - the guy is coming into his own now as a game winner (and he has matured) - he would buy the Wolves a get out of jail card - cause 2-3 years from now they will be chilling with Atlanta if they don't make a big move or don't strike it lucky in the draft... Of course Denver are not stupid - they will not trade the future of their franchise for a guy who is the wrong side of 30 and with a suss knee (it's only a matter of time i think)...

Carmelo is damn difficult to trade for due to the Poison Pill Provision, along with a trade kicker on his contract. Wade, Hinrich, Lebron are all in the same boat. Basically you will need to wait until the current rookie extensions of the above expiry.

Very few teams will trade for KG, what GM is willing to trade his star player (McHale wants a star), plus potentially other starters, plus players with potential (young guns), plus their future in draft picks for KG. Not very many. The Wolves are stuck with KG.

If the Wolves are able to find someone then they will not get KG's value returned to them. Tough position for McHale.....

You'll just have to basically accept the fact that KG's contract is basically untradeable. I'm lead to believe he does have an escape clause after next season and his contract expires at the end of the 2008-2009 season. My money is on the Lakers to snag him on the cheap. Teaming him up with Kobe, Lamar and Bynum (good potential) could be very successful.

If Marko Jaric added 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and say 1 steal per game, he'd be quite valuable. He's capable of doing that, but he's too inconsistent on too regular a basis.

Mark Blount could certainly manage 10 points, say 7 rebounds and a block a game, but again, never seems to be able to do it consistently.

Eddie Griffin could also add 10 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks per game. Again, lacks consistency.

I'd expect Troy Hudson could put up 10 points, 5 assists and a steal per game. Somehow doesn't manage to.

If all those guys played to their potential, Kevin Garnett, with his expected 23, 13 and 5 averages, would have a decent 4 guys to run with. Mike James could slot in as the starting point, and he's capable of 20 points and 5 assists per.

Simply put, if all these guys played to their potential, the Wolves wouldn't be great, but they'd at least make the playoffs.

3, what do you expect from Ricky Davis??? I'd say he's a pretty good wingman for KG.

They lost McCants for the season who should be good for 10ppg+ and a few rebounds.

They need to find a true pass first PG that can run the team, they have the superstar, they have batmans robin in Davis (he's a d*ck, but puts up decent numbers), they have a great rookie in Foye, and potential in McCants.

What they lack is those middle of the road type veterans/players than on any given night can put in 20points, or bang for 10-15 rebounds. The gap between their first 5/6 and their 7/10 is huge.

I totally forgot about Davis. He's definitely good for about 20 points, plus 5 boards, 5 assits and a steal usually.

If they had that plus what I already mentioned, that's a minimum of 100 points per night from just 7 guys, which when you add that to whatever anyone else may add, they should come out winners most nights. These players are certainly capable of it, they just don't seem to want to bring it every game.