K.G. leads by example, but that's simply not enough

Sporting News, The, Dec 9, 2005 by Percy Allen

Is it just me, or is anyone else put off by Kevin Garnett lately? Don't get me wrong, K.G. is a basketball warrior. His passion for the game is unparalleled. His skills are freakish. And how do you not love a guy who donates $1.2 million to Oprah's Angel Network to build 24 homes for Hurricane Katrina survivors?

But as a leader, Garnett is horrible.

I mean--hello--after all these months, now he wants to open up about the dysfunctional family that is the Minnesota Timberwolves? Where was all of the brutal honesty last year? He wanted no part of the three-ring circus created by Latrell "I Can't Feed My Family" Sprewell, Sam "One-day Holdout" Cassell and Kevin "Everything is Fine" McHale.

Garnett forgot that he's the four-star general in charge of the franchise and wrongly played the part of the dutiful soldier. He stood idly by while Spree and Sam poisoned the waters, coach Flip Saunders lost his job and the team missed the playoffs.

Apparently, Garnett works as slowly as a congressional hearing and needed half a year to review the wreckage before making a meaningful observation. He recently ripped McHale, Minnesota's vice president of basketball operations, for not handling the contract matters before last season and for replacing Saunders when McHale obviously didn't want the responsibility of coaching.

Wow, what a stunner. We all knew McHale was uncomfortable on the sideline. He said so himself. We all knew Saunders was the fall guy and that something needed to be done about Sprewell and Cassell.

But where was Garnett then?

It wasn't enough for him to post on the left block and drain impossible rainbow jumpers each night or bust his hump in practice like a 10-day free agent fighting for a job. He needed to be out front, vocal and commanding. He needed to be a leader. That's what real superstars do.

So forgive me if I'm not bowled over by Garnett's criticisms. In my opinion, they would have carried more weight had they been aired last year.

Still, when The Big Ticket speaks, people listen. And when he's critical of management, newshounds speculate. TNT analyst Charles Barkley got the ball rolling on the Garnett trade rumors, and a flurry of possible scenarios have erupted across the league.

Of course, they're bogus. Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says he has no plans to trade Garnett. He knows that rarely--if ever--can a team trade a franchise player and improve. The Lakers, Magic and Raptors are Exhibits A, B and C.

There's also the sticky little matter of fair market value. Given the constraints of the collective bargaining agreement, it would be virtually impossible to put enough players together to make a K.G. swap work.

So forget about the rumors you heard out of Detroit involving Rasheed Wallace and Darko Milicic. Similar speculation including Golden State's Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy or New Jersey's Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter are just pipe dreams.

The Knicks are always linked in trade discussions and are said to be dangling the expiring contracts of Penny Hardaway and Antonio Davis for Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak, which would free more than $100 million from Minnesota's payroll and allow the team to rebuild. Such a deal also would reduce the Timberwolves to expansion team status.

Garnett put it best when he told Barkley: "This is my reality, and this is where I'm at. Stop causing controversy and (throwing) dust in a clean house."

Garnett will turn 30 in May and is in his 11th season. He is an eight-time All-Star and a former MVP who has three years remaining on his contract after this season. K.G. isn't going anywhere, at least not this season. But make no mistake, he has put the Timberwolves on notice.

Essentially, he's telling McHale to be creative and daring with personnel moves, which means adding a respected veteran so Garnett doesn't have to shoulder all the leadership responsibilities.

He's suggesting that Taylor keep the team pocketbook open. Minnesota reduced its payroll from $71 million in 2004-05 to about $61 million this season, dropping the Timberwolves from the league's top five to No. 15.

He's warning new coach Dwane Casey to come up with a plan to get the team above .500 or risk being gone by next summer.

Finally, Garnett speaks. We all knew what he was thinking. It's too bad it has taken him this long to say what was on his mind.

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START PACKIN'

Garnett may not be going anywhere, but four other players likely will be changing addresses before the season ends.

Ruben Patterson, SF, Trail Blazers. His relationship with coach Nate McMillan has reached the boiling point. Denver and New York have surfaced as possible trading partners, and if the Blazers can't trade Patterson, they might buy out his contract.

Tim Thomas, SF, Bulls. He has told the team he wants out, but the Bulls like his expiring contract of nearly $14 million and won't take on any more salary in a deal. So for now, he's sitting on the bench behind Mike Sweetney, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and Darius Songaila.