Suns Hope to Land Garnett
Phoenix the Newest Player in the Kevin Garnett Trade Rumors
An influx of trade rumors suggests that NBA star Kevin Garnett will be moved to greener pastures in the near future.
Imagine a lineup that included Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett. It would be like watching three top-flight high school ballers schooling rounds of fifth graders at the basketball hoop at the park. Yet, it might be a possibility that these All-Stars team together to form the scariest trio of future Hall of Famers in the NBA.
After Garnett made it clear he did not want to play for the Boston Celtics, quickly silencing all Garnett-for-Al Jefferson and package rumors, the Phoenix Suns steered into trade talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The apparent proposal on the table would involve the Timberwolves, Suns as well as the Celtics and would look like this:
- Phoenix receives Kevin Garnett
- Boston receives Shawn Marion
- Minnesota receives the Celtics' No. 5 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, as well as the Hawks' unprotected first-round pick next year, which is currently held by the Suns. They would also get the Suns two first round picks this year (No. 24 and 29), plus the expiring contracts of Kurt Thomas and Theo Ratliff.
The issue is that Marion might not be willing to go to Boston, which is problematic since he has an opt-out clause after next season. However, Marion may not have the pull that Garnett does, since the market for him isn't nearly as high as it is for Garnett.
Assuming this trade works out and Garnett is sent to the Suns, they might also have a shot at signing Orlando Magic forward Grant Hill for the mid-level exception. Now imagine a lineup that looks like this:
- C. Amare Stoudemire
- PF. Kevin Garnett
- SF. Grant Hill
- PG. Steve Nash
- SG. Raja Bell
- Bench: Leandro Barbosa, Boris Diaw
At least on paper, the Suns could really press the San Antonio Spurs with a lineup like that. Moreover, with the additional passing abilities of Garnett and Hill to go along with the passing wizardry of Nash, one of the most fun-to-watch teams in the NBA could become that much more exciting.
In another scenerio, if the Timberwolves ends up keeping Garnett, there are several rumors that suggest it could make a play for troubled forward Ron Artest. A lineup that included Garnett and Artest may not win championships by itself, but it certainly would be a major maneuver to get the Wolves back to the playoffs.
Another rumor features a Garnett for Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks swap, though this probably doesn't make the best of sense for either team. While landing Nowitzki would help the Wolves in the short term, they don't have enough pieces to make it a significant benefit and should be focussing more on long term gain. At the other end, there's speculation that the Mavericks might be able to get over the hump and win a NBA championship with a truer post player in Garnett. However, the supporting cast is built around and designed to compliment Nowitzki's perimeter style game. Tampering with that probably won't benefit the team that much and could actually cause issues with the team's chemistry.
Another recent rumor involves multiple teams (LA Lakers, Indiana Pacers, Minnesota and perhaps a fourth team). The trade would send Garnett to the Lakers and Lamar Odon and Andrew Bynum to the Pacers. It's unclear what the Wolves and the possible other team would get.
Whatever happens, the rumors surrounding Kevin Garnett and other NBA stars makes this off season exciting and one to look forward to.
