Timberwolves’ training camp gets underway next week and the team opens their season on October 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies. The person spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because a deal has not been completed. That has caused the Timberwolves leadership to consider a number of options and scenarios for the 40-year-old franchise icon, including a buyout or the possibility that he decides to retire after 21 seasons in the league, including 13 1/2 in Minnesota.
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Kevin Garnett’s career may be over.
Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune also reports that the agreements can’t be negotiated until the team’s owner, Glen Taylor, know’s Garnett’s intentions.
The former MVP would be entering his 22nd National Basketball Association season and the second of a two-year, $16.5 million contract.
But Garnett has served as a valuable mentor to a young and impressionable roster, helping Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Gorgui Dieng learn about what it takes to be successful in the National Basketball Association. Knee soreness held him to an average of 3.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 38 games last season. He has been valuable as a veteran mentor to the team’s group of young stars, in particular Karl-Anthony Towns, but Garnett does not offer enough on the court to justify an $8 million salary for this season.
Garnett would be entering his 22nd National Basketball Association season.
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If Garnett has indeed made a decision to retire, he will join Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in the prospective 2021 Hall of Fame class. But Garnett lost his strongest ally in the organization when Saunders died just before the start of last season, only three months after it was announced Saunders had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
