Dear Kevin Garnett,
My name is Zach Harper and I’m the resident T’wolves fan of talkhoops.net until the day you get traded and I boycott the team (as long as Kevin McHale is still running it). This was the first real threat that I’ve ever experienced as a fan of you not being with the team when the next season starts. It is kind of mind numbing to me. How could they get rid of you? You are the Minnesota Timberwolves. They tried to make Tony Campbell, Luc Longley, Christian Laettner, Donyell Marshall and Isiah Rider the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves. But it never managed to fit. However, with you, from your first action on the court, we could all tell that you were different. Your charisma, athleticism, basketball skills and passion for the game invigorated us and made us believe that there was a bright future in store for this seemingly unfocused, helpless franchise. You fell into Kevin McHale’s lap at #5 in 1995. No one expected you to get #1. Joe Smith, Antonio McDyess, Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace all got the nod in front of you. We were terrified of getting Bryant Reeves or Ed O’Bannon. We didn’t even know much about you, but this was virtually uncharted territory in the past 20 years, and it gave us hope as soon as you hit your first outside jumper.
From there, we watched you grow into one of the most skilled, if not THE most skilled, big men of all time. Your passing ability was up there with Wilt Chamberlain, Vlade Divac, and Chris Webber. Your defense was a taller more athletic version of Dennis Rodman, with the ability to guard any position like Scottie Pippen. Your jump shot was as smooth as any big man to ever play the game. And you could handle the ball like you were 6’2”. We watched you get saddled with surly players (Stephon Marbury) and guys that never lived up to the hype (William Avery, Joe Smith, LaPhonso Ellis). You were given broken down veterans that couldn’t contribute the way their ability should dictate (Terrell Brandon). The one year that everything clicked, you had two aging stars consumed with contract extensions (Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell) and your team really wasn’t any good then. The best big man you’ve ever played with was Rasho Nesterovic. The best shooting guard you ever had was tragically killed (Malik Sealy). The best draft pick of your prime years that Kevin McHale could put beside you was Wally Szczerbiak. And yet through all of this, you managed 20, 10, and 5 (points, rebounds, and assists). You managed to lead your terrible teams to the playoffs (even though you got out of the first round only once). You were never the favorite, always the underdog. And yet you stayed loyal and true to your organization and your fans. You were always ‘Sota. No matter what.
Well, now you have an opt out clause from your ridiculously large contract coming up next summer, and because of your understandable and well published problems with the way management has “built” this team around you, everyone is terrified that you’ll opt out and leave Minnesota for greener pastures. Nobody would blame you. People would probably be mad at you for not doing it. You deserve to win. Your passion and heart for this game are immeasurable. EVERYBODY wants to see you win a title and watch your emotions get the best of you when it happens. But that’s not necessarily you.
You don’t ever want the easy way out. You finish things that you’ve started. You’d rather die trying to lead this franchise to the title, than quit and leave for an easier situation. The problem is that the team can’t build around you because of the contract they’ve given you. So here’s what you need to do to save this franchise:
Opt out of your contract.
You need to opt out. There is no other way about it. For the sake of this franchise, you need to opt out and not saddle them with this unmanageable albatross that eats up nearly half of the team’s salary cap. We know you’d prefer to play in Chicago, or Phoenix, or near your Malibu home in Los Angeles. We know you’d like to go to be a part of a team that is dedicated to winning and has people calling the shots that can get it done. Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor clearly aren’t those people. Asking you to give up $24 million dollars is a lot, but it could possibly be in your best interest. But here’s the catch:
Re-sign for significantly less money with Minnesota.
That’s correct; take a far smaller contract to ease the financial restraints on Minnesota. And I’m not talking about $15 million per year smaller. Sign a contract worth around $5 million dollars annually and allow Kevin McHale to try and put together a great free agent signing to go alongside you.
Here’s the list of 2008 Free Agents.
See anything you like? I know I do. It’s your time to start recruiting in a way that players only can during the regular season. You need to try and convince a player like Jermaine O’Neal or Gilbert Arenas to come and play in Minnesota. The roster for the 2008-2009 season has $35.37 million committed to 9 players if Kevin Garnett opts out of his contract. Let’s say that KG, signs for my proposed $5 million per year, then you’re looking at $40.37 million committed to 10 players. That’s leaves roughly $17 million in open cap space. That’s enough to get Gilbert Arenas who can get a max contract starting at around $16 million. Then maybe they can talk Craig Smith into taking less money on the market and re-signing around $4 million. If the Wolves are able to pull this off thanks to KG’s recruiting, then they’d have a roster looking like this:
PG- Gilbert Arenas, Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson
SG- Randy Foye, Rashad McCants
SF- Corey Brewer, Trenton Hassell
PF- Kevin Garnett, Craig Smith, Mark Madsen
C- Mark Blount, Chris Richard
Throw in some guys breaking their backs to make an NBA roster and you’ve got a pretty good team there. It’s not a top 3 team in the West but it’s definitely good enough to challenge for the division and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. After that, anything can happen, especially with two stars like Gilbert and KG playing alongside each other.
Or if you can talk Jermaine O’Neal into coming to Minnesota and leaving Basketball Country in Indiana, the team could look like this:
PG- Randy Foye, Marko Jaric, Troy Hudson
SG- Rashad McCants
SF- Corey Brewer, Trenton Hassell
PF- Kevin Garnett, Craig Smith, Mark Madsen
C- Jermaine O’Neal, Mark Blount, Chris Richard
Kevin, I know you about as well as any outside looking in fan can know you. I know your unselfish nature. I know your desire to win. I know it physically, mentally, and emotionally hurts you when you lose. And I know that this kind of roster would put your faith back into the franchise and your hopes of bringing a title to the Twin Cities.
You are the ultimate team player and the most unselfish superstar I have ever seen. You are loyal to your team, your franchise, and everyone that comes into contact with you. It’s time to prove it once again.
Opt out.
Take a fraction of the paycheck you’re used to.
Get Gilbert.
Beat San Antonio.
Hoist the trophy.
Sincerely,
Zach Harper, Talkhoops.net Creator