Empty the Bench

Now 30 years old and in his 12th NBA season, Kevin Garnett’s unflinching loyalty to the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise toes a thin line between incredibly admirable and just plain creepy. He’s almost always played the good soldier role, despite playing for Forbes’ Top GM in Sports a mostly inept general manager in Kevin McHale who has repeatedly sabotaged his team’s ability to compete amongst the NBA elite.

An honest, wide-ranging interview KG conducted with Marc Stein of ESPN might be a significant sign that the frustrated power forward may have, finally, had enough. Though he does sidestep some questions about what his future may hold, Garnett touches on his displeasure with the front office–especially over not bringing back Sam Casell and Latrell Sprewell–his thoughts about former coach Dwayne Casey (“I enjoyed my two years with him, but there’s a lot of good coaches out there.”), and his respect for Kirby Puckett. Definitely read the whole interview at ESPN.com, but here’s a few excerpts:

Q: Another season like this must be killing you then?

A: It is. It is. It is. It is. And not just how we’re losing. The personnel. I was crushed when we let Sammy [Cassell] go [in 2005] and Spree [Latrell Sprewell]. I felt like we didn’t handle that right.

Q: So one of the problems …

A: Not having enough veterans here. [And] no disrespect towards Case [ex-Wolves coach Dwane Casey], I enjoyed my two years with him, but when you’re trying to build, when you’re trying to win, you got to have … there’s a lot of good coaches out there. There’s a lot of great coaches out there.

Q: So if you or the Wolves choose not to pursue a trade this summer, do you think we’ll still see some major changes with this franchise?

A: There’s got to be. Fuck yeah. I think [head coach] Randy Wittman would echo that, so it’s not just me.

Could this finally be the summer that KG is traded, either by demanding it or McHale getting independently offered a deal he can’t refuse? Time will tell, but there’s no question big changes might be in order for the Timberwolves no matter what.

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