This is the third part in our series previewing the entire Minnesota Timberwolves roster, player-by-player from the least to the most minutes played last season.
Kevin Garnett rejoined the Timberwolves at the trade deadline in February of 2015. It was thought that he may be done when yet another non-playoffs season came to a close for the Wolves, but that’s not exactly how things played out.
Indeed, the Wolves re-signed Garnett to a two-year contract, even after he finished the 2014-15 season on the sidelines with his recurring knee injury. The deal was reasonable, at two years and $16.5 million, with the annual value dropping to $8 million for the 2016-17 campaign.
When Garnett played last year, he was a solid per-minute contributor. And really, the 14.6 minutes per game that KG played are right about what the Timberwolves should expect from him. Anything north of 15 minutes would be asking too much from a then-39 year-old.
Of course, Garnett did eventually break down, ultimately playing in just 38 games on the year. Naturally, it would be difficult to expect anything approaching that 14-15 minute per game range; 10-12 minutes per contest would be enough for a fifth big man in 2016-17.
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Yes, there’s always been the whispers that Garnett had to keep starting games over the past few seasons because he needs to be able to get his body ready and stay warm early, and then re-calibrate himself at halftime for the third quarter. He rarely reenters games down the stretch anymore, which is surely in part to how difficult it is for him to get his body warm and ready to go again.
But again, when he’s on the floor, he’s valuable. Here’s what I wrote about Garnett’s 2015-16 season back in April:
"Let’s start with the obvious: Kevin Garnett is still an outstanding team defender. The Wolves defense was astronomically better during the first half of the season with Garnett on the floor than when it bottomed out towards the end of the year with Zach LaVine and Gorgui Dieng in the starting lineup in favor of Tayshaun Prince and the injured KG.…Garnett had the second-best Defensive Real Plus-Minus (3.96) among power forwards as measured by ESPN, behind only the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, Draymond Green. In fact, he was sixth in the entire NBA, regardless of position. Granted, he only played in 38 games, but it’s a significant mark to point out nonetheless.According to Basketball-Reference.com, the Timberwolves were a net +10.3 when Garnett was on the floor, and his win shares per 48 minutes finished at a solid .096 — fourth-best on the team."
The Timberwolves front court is both stronger and deeper now than it was 12 months ago, of course.
We know that Karl-Anthony Towns is a legitimate star. Gorgui Dieng proved that he can be a productive power forward in addition to an above-average backup center. Nemanja Bjelica should be much better in his second year in the league.
Add in free agent acquisitions Cole Aldrich and Jordan Hill, and the front court goes five-deep even without Garnett. They’d probably be just fine without him, not to mention Adreian Payne or Nikola Pekovic, both of whom we’ve already previewed as end-of-the-bench options who may not be on the team come November.
When it comes to Garnett, however, the other end of the floor is an issue. He’s simply a mid-range jump-shooter at this point, attempting more than 57 percent of his shots from beyond 16 feet out but within the three-point arc.
He’s good from there, of course, shooting 45.5 percent from that range last year. But he doesn’t post-up anymore and can’t elevate to make his famous turnaround jumper or score buckets in the paint.
Garnett is still a valuable player at 10-12 minutes per game, although the roster spot that he occupies may be the bigger issue.
Don’t be surprised if he’s waived and/or retires, but there’s still a solid chance that he contributes for at least part of the season once again.
Next: Timberwolves Player Preview: Adreian Payne
And as hard as it is to see Garnett struggle to the end of his career, Timberwolves fans should be sure to enjoy what would almost surely be The Big Ticket’s final season.