Ray Allen on Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves: ‘What should have been’
By Ben Beecken
Ray Allen joined FanSided’s Mark Carman for a wide-ranging conversation, including what could have been with Allen, Kevin Garnett, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
There have been three or four moments in Minnesota Timberwolves history that fans can look back on and say “what could have been.”
Recently, there was the Jimmy Butler season that led to a single playoff appearance but ended far too soon. Before that, there was the Kevin Love-Rick Adelman era, which saw the Wolves’ win-loss record vastly underperform the peripheral numbers and talent on the team.
Before that, there was the one truly successful window in Wolves history: the 2003-04 season with Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, and Latrell Sprewell leading the way.
The only other “era” in Wolves history that fans occasionally recall and wonder, “what if?” was Stephon Marbury‘s two-plus seasons in a Timberwolves uniform. What if he hadn’t forced his way out? What if he hadn’t wanted to play second fiddle, and what if he didn’t hate living in Minnesota?
Or, rewind even further. What if the Wolves had never acquired Marbury on draft night in 1996?
Ray Allen on a possible Kevin Garnett pairing with the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves drafted Allen with the No. 5 pick in the draft and immediately sent him to Milwaukee along with a future first-round pick, although the Bucks sent that pick right back to Minnesota in a separate trade only weeks later.
Recently, Hall-of-Famer Ray Allen joined FanSided’s Mark Carman to discuss the FreeStyle Libre 2, a product that helps diabetics easily check their glucose levels with no finger pricking. Allen has a 14-year-old son with diabetes and is raising awareness for this product.
Also in the wide-ranging conversation, Allen was asked if he and Garnett ever talked about what could have been in Minnesota.
Allen responded by saying that he and Garnett in Minnesota is a “what could have been, what should have been” scenario. Still, he calls the eventual pairing with KG in Boston “serendipitous”, going on to talk about working hard and getting better while being patient will help players get in a situation to “get really close” to a championship.
Of course, a Garnett and Allen pairing in Minnesota would have been dynamite. While Cassell eventually found success as a ball-dominant point guard alongside Garnett in head coach Flip Saunders’ system, a floor-spacer in Allen would have been a fantastic fit. In a vacuum, Allen was a better player than Marbury both at that point in his career and, of course, over the length of his time in the NBA.
Allen likely would have been happy to stay in Minnesota and build on the success that the KG-led Wolves started to enjoy in the late 1996-97 season. Instead, Marbury forced his way out by the trade deadline in his third season, and Allen played six-plus seasons in Milwaukee and was a three-time All-Star for the Bucks before being traded to Seattle.
Allen was the best player on a Bucks team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000-01. Somewhat ironically, Cassell was the second-best player on that team.
Imagine prime Allen with Garnett from 1996 to 2001. The Wolves certainly would have made it out of the first round, which is something they’ve still only done one time in their 31-year existence.
Allen went on to be a 10-time All-Star and got his first ring with Garnett in Boston before leaving the Celtics to win another championship with LeBron James in Miami. Marbury was a two-time All-Star before leaving the NBA in favor of China in 2009 at the age of 32.
Next. How the Timberwolves could trade for Ben Simmons. dark
Ah, what could have been. It isn’t the first time that Timberwolves fans have used that phrase. Nor will it be the last.