The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to hold power forward Kevin Garnett in homage as the greatest NBA player to have ever played for the Timberwolves over the life of the franchise. There is even an article that cites the 15 greatest moments of his career. And yet, he was never able to lead the team to the ultimate pinnacle of professional basketball, to an NBA Championship. Oh how he tried, but the team was never quite able to add the right pieces to the TImberwolves roster around him.
Kevin Garnett played for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1995 through 2007. That worked out to 14 seasons. Over the course of his career, he played 36,189 minutes for the Timberwolves and recorded 19,201 points, 10,718 rebounds, and 4,216 assists during the regular season. But what of his teammates? Who were the players who thwarted The Big Ticket from realizing his hope to win an NBA Championship for the Timberwolves?
To answer that question, we have to dive back in time to determine who exactly were the worst TImberwolves starters of the Kevin Garnett era. But to do that, we’ll need to focus on those players who started at least 20 games with Garnett. After all, no need to sift through the one-off players. So who do we have?
XV: C Ervin Johnson (2004-05)
GS 23 | 8.9 MPG | 1.6 PPG | 100.0 3P% | 2.5 RPG | 0.1 APG | 0.2 SPG | 0.3 BPG
Despite the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves would be led by Kevin Garnett again to a 44-38 record, the team would not make the 2005 NBA Playoffs. The Timberwolves’ streak of post-season competition would end at eight consecutive seasons, and the wheels would go into motion that would ultimately lead to one of the worst trades in Minnesota Timberwolves’ history.
The team struggled to find a complimentary center to pair with power forward Kevin Garnett, and Ervin Johnson (he will appear again on this list) was simply not a good fit. Despite appearing in 46 games and starting 23, Johnson never truly delivered what the Timberwolves were looking for. Of course, to be fair, this was his 12th NBA season and his production was in serious decline. He did help the Wolves in the paint, and his 6-foot-11 245-pound presence near the basket was a formidable defensive presence.
He simply offered next to nothing on the offensive half of the basketball court. If not for the fact that he merely played 8.9 minutes per game, he would have ranked further along in this list.
XIV: C Dean Garrett (1999-00)
GS 23 | 10.8 MPG | 2.0 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 2.5 RPG | 0.3 APG | 0.1 SPG | 0.7 BPG
While the Minnesota Timberwolves would end up with a 50-22 record, you can bet the farm on the fact that backup center Dean Garrett did not contribute much to the cause. Garrett was a 6-foot-10 225-pound center who had competed for seven years in the EuroLeague before debuting in the NBA in the 1996-97 season. He performed rather well that season.
Unfortunately, that was not the case in 1999-2000.
The trouble with the Timberwolves continued to be pairing up the right rim protector who could complement the physicality and intensity of PF Kevin Garnett. In the 1999-2000 season, the Timberwolves struggled mightily, despite a rotation of three NBA centers. In this season, Joe Smith proved to be the best center on the Timberwolves roster. Dean Garrett simply was not.
The saving grace for Garrett is the fact that he was merely a backup who did not find himself heavily involved in the number of his appearances or the number of minutes averaged per game. It was that lack of meaningful minutes that allowed him to be graded on the curve. That was not as much of a factor the following season.
XIII: C Dean Garrett (2000-01)
GS 21 | 11.9 MPG | 2.5 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 3.1 RPG | 0.3 APG | 0.4 SPG | 0.7 BPG
Garrett is the first of several players who will appear on this list on multiple occasions. He shows up on this list for the second time because he regressed even more from his previous season with the Timberwolves.
While I’m not blind to the fact that the 6-foot-10 225-pound center Dean Garrett out of the University of Indiana had a tough role on the team, namely serving as a rebounder and rim protector for 6-foot-11 240-pound Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett, that was how the chips fell.
Once more, despite a 47-35 record, the Timberwolves were unable to advance beyond Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. And in the postseason, Garrett’s minutes nearly tripled from the previous season, but his shooting accuracy actually fell.
That was a problem because Garrett changed his style and began to attempt many more shots per game. With more numerous shots and a declining accuracy, Garrett’s presence for the Timberwolves in 2000-01 was even less satisfying than his previous year.
He would go on to be traded to the Golden State Warriors in the middle of the 2001-02 season. But you have to wonder if the Timberwolves had a more effective backup center, would that have been enough to change history and aid the Minnesota Timberwolves in winning their first NBA Championship?
XII: C Stanley Roberts (1997-98)
GS 44 | 17.9 MPG | 6.2 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 4.9 RPG | 0.4 APG | 0.3 SPG | 1.0 BPG
If you recall the play of former Minnesota Timberwolves center Stanley Roberts, not only are you pushing 50 years of age (or older), but you have a mind like a steel trap. Roberts was another center who was an attempt by the Timberwolves front office to find someone, anyone, who would be compatible with PF Kevin Garnett.
To be fair, Roberts was trying to compete after suffering a serious Achilles Tendon injury in 1994-95. At that time, an Achilles Tendon Injury ended careers, particularly those of football or basketball players. Both sports require a great deal of planting the foot, pivoting, starting, stopping, and pushing off. Because it places so much stress on the ankle, many athletes simply were unable to return to competitive play after that type of injury.
Roberts gave it his best effort in the 1997-98 season, appearing in 74 games and starting an incredible 44 contests. He had never started in more than 14 games since 1993-94, and would not for the rest of his NBA career, which ended in 2000.
He was certainly big enough to play the part, standing 7-foot-0 and weighing 285 pounds. He was one of the few players on this list that Kevin Garnett actually had to look up to. For his part, he was a bit underwhelming, but he did manage to score some points and haul in some rebounds. But he was sorely lacking in some areas. He struggled to sink free throws, shooting just 48.1 percent from the free-throw line.
He would play just two more seasons for two other NBA teams. While his heroic return from a devastating injury is noteworthy, he simply was not the same player after his injury.
XI: F Sam Mitchell (1999-00)
GS 24 | 18.6 MPG | 6.5 PPG | 43.5 3P% | 2.1 RPG | 1.7 APG | 0.4 SPG | 0.2 BPG
The Minnesota Timberwolves got some good basketball years out of 6-foot-6 210-pound wingman Sam Mitchell, but the 1999-2000 NBA season was not one of them. Mitchell was another player who began his NBA career as a draft and stash, competing for two seasons in the EuroLeague for France.
When he did finally land in the NBA, he played 10 years for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and three seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He was a solid contributor on the Timberwolves roster for many years. Unfortunately, by the time he played in the 1999-2000 season for the Timberwolves, Father Time had caught up to him and his production dropped dramatically.
His points per game dropped from 11.2 the previous season to just 6.5 in this year. In fact, his production dropped across the board. Despite the decline, Mitchell appeared in 66 games for the Timberwolves and started in 24 of those contests.
The Timberwolves started 6-foot-8 small forward Malik Sealy that year, so Mitchell’s role was primarily coming into games off the bench. Still, the 6-foot-6 210-pound Timberwolves small forward did absorb a lot of game time. His saving grace was that tremendous perimeter shot, in which he sank an incredible 43.5 percent of the time.
He would retire as a player, but return to the NBA as a coach from 2002 through 2016. He would win NBA Coach of the Year in 2006-07 as head coach of the Toronto Raptors. He would complete the circle as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2015-16, leading the team to a 29-53 record.
X: C Rasho Nesterović (2000-01)
GS 39 | 16.9 MPG | 4.5 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 3.9 RPG | 0.6 APG | 0.3 SPG | 0.9 BPG
If you have noticed the theme with many of the players who have appeared on this list so far, congratulations. If you are still trying to link the common thread, the Timberwolves truly struggled to find the right front court complements to PF Kevin Garnett. Because Garnett was such a dominating physical presence in the paint, finding the right center to play alongside him was an arduous task.
Slovenian center Rasho Nesterovic was no exception. Standing 7-foot-0 and weighing 248 pounds, Nesterovic was an ideally sized center for the Timberwolves. He split the center duties with David Garrett (see previous slide) throughout the 2000-01 season. The reason for Nesterovic’s appearance later on this list is the fact that he saw far more action, but was unable to be productive.
Nesterovic would play five seasons for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the 2000-01 season was quite arguably the worst of the bunch. Even his playoff effort was abysmal.
He would play two more seasons for the Timberwolves and truly improved significantly in subsequent seasons. But his 2000-01 season would fall below his career averages in nearly every statistical category.
IX: F/C Gary Trent (2002-03)
GS 22 | 15.3 MPG | 6.0 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 3.6 RPG | 1.0 APG | 0.4 SPG | 0.3 BPG
While we do not have a clear center at nine, versatile Gary Trent was the type of player who could effectively compete in any and all positions on the frontcourt. And the Minnesota Timberwolves would use that fact over the course of three seasons with the team, using him as a power forward in 2001-02, small forward in 2002-03, and center in 2003-04.
Trent enjoyed a nine-season career in the NBA. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he had peaked and was already on the decline by the time he joined the Timberwolves roster.
Trent was a polished performer at his peak, averaging 16.0 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks in 1998-99. But by the time he rolled into the 2002-03 season, his numbers were already plummeting. He would appear in 80 games for the Timberwolves and started in 22 of those contests. He would back up SF Wally Szczerbiak, who was coming off an NBA All-Star season the year before.
Trent would really show signs of decline in the 2003 NBA Playoffs when he would appear in six games but only average 2.3 points per game. He would play just one more season in the NBA. While he would appear in 68 games in 2003-04, he would start just two games that entire season.
VIII: C Ervin Johnson (2003-04)
GS 47 | 14.6 MPG | 1.9 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 3.5 RPG | 0.4 APG | 0.4 SPG | 0.7 BPG
Do not confuse former Minnesota Timberwolves center Ervin Johnson with his NBA predecessor, Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Earvin Johnson Jr. While the two names are very similar, the two players are not. Ervin Johnson is a 6-foot-11 245-pound center who was originally drafted by the Seattle Supersonics as the 23rd overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Fast forward 11 seasons, and he was starting 47 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Johnson was already well past his peak but was a player added in a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks as the Timberwolves acquired Sam Cassell.
Johnson was more of a bridge player for the Timberwolves at the center position. He took over for a waning center Joe Smith and would be relieved the following season by center Michael Olowakandi.
Johnson, like all of the bigs to appear on this list, simply struggled to score. While he did up his game in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, his 2.7 points per game stand out as a glaring failure by the Timberwolves to build a competent roster around Kevin Garnett. Worst of all, this would be the last NBA Playoffs appearance of Kevin Garnett in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.
The Timberwolves would advance all the way to the Western Conference Championship series. If Ervin Johnson had been more effective, the Timberwolves may have won the NBA Championship for Garnett.
VII: F/C Joe Smith (2002-03)
GS 21 | 20.7 MPG | 7.5 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 5.0 RPG | 0.7 APG | 0.3 SPG | 1.0 BPG
Sometimes even good players have a forgettable season. Such is the case for the versatile forward/center Joe Smith. Smith enjoyed a long 16-season career in the NBA, playing for 12 different NBA franchises over that period (Is that a record?). He played four seasons with the Timberwolves, the longest chapter of his career with any one team.
Smith was effective for the Timberwolves when he first arrived in 1998-99. But by the time he competed in the 2002-03 NBA season, he was significantly less effective.
Like many players on this list, his performance during the 2002-03 NBA season fell well short of his career averages. Perhaps the coup de grâce was the fact that his performance in the 2003 NBA Playoffs was horrific. He would only average 8.0 MPG and 2.8 PPG for the Timberwolves.
He would be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks after this season, where we would rejuvenate his NBA career and continue on to play until 2011.
Smith played hard for the Minnesota Timberwolves in previous seasons. But his performance in 2002-03 was not up to par. Unfortunately, he would be one more player whose shortcomings would contribute to Kevin Garnett’s frustration. But he was not the only player to do so.
VI: PF/C Eddie Griffin (2005-06)
GS 27 | 19.4 MPG | 4.6 PPG | 19.5 3P% | 5.6 RPG | 0.6 APG | 0.2 SPG | 2.1 BPG
While the Timberwolves did not compete in the 2006 NBA Playoffs and did not even finish above .500 at the end of the 2005-06 NBA season, power forward/center Eddie Griffin’s performance did not exactly help the cause.
Griffin was a reclamation project by the Timberwolves, a player who was suspended for the entirety of the 2003-04 NBA season due to a violation of the league’s controlled substance policy. In fact, when he returned to compete for the Timberwolves during the 2004-05 NBA season, he was relegated to coming off the bench and seemed to flourish in that role.
Unfortunately, the Minnesota Timberwolves could not leave well enough alone and started Griffin in 27 games through the course of the 2005-06 NBA season. Unfortunately, the 6-foot-10 220-pound forward was not up to the task. In fact, his production dropped significantly.
The Timberwolves continued to use a rotation at the center position. For this year, Griffin was one of the clear underachievers. Starting 27 games, he was only good enough for 4.6 points per game. His saving grace was the fact that he was still effective as a rim protector, averaging 2.1 blocked shots per game.
V: C Michael Olowokandi (2004-05)
GS 34 | 19.6 MPG | 5.9 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 5.2 RPG | 0.5 APG | 0.2 SPG | 0.9 BPG
We are entering the final stretch, and unfortunately, former Minnesota Timberwolves center Michael Olowokandi shows up three times in the last five rankings of worst starters of the Kevin Garnett era.
The Timberwolves needed a rim-protecting center to free up the physical play of power forward Kevin Garnett. And that seemed to be custom-suited to the style of play of 7-foot-0 269-pound center Michael Olowokandi. In his first five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Olowokandi averaged 9.9 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 1.6 BPG.
And the Timberwolves needed help in all three categories. Unfortunately, that is not what Olowokandi delivered.
In 2004-05, Olowokandi appeared in 62 games and started 34 of those contests. He fell far short of expectations, delivering fewer than six points per game, and fewer than one block per game. Compounding the problem is the fact that the Timberwolves failed to make the 2005 NBA Playoffs, for the first time in nine years.
While it’s unfair to lay the inability of the team to earn a playoff berth entirely at the feet of Olowokandi, he certainly was one of the contributing factors.
IV: SG Doug West (1996-97)
GS 66 | 28.2 MPG | 7.8 PPG | 33.3 3P% | 2.2 RPG | 1.7 APG | 0.9 SPG | 0.4 BPG
The next player on this list is one of the few backcourt players to appear. Villanova’s 6-foot-6 200-pound shooting guard Doug West was a significant contributor to the Timberwolves roster in the past. But when he competed in the 1996-97 NBA season, age and the physical demands of professional basketball seemed to catch up and overtake him.
1996-97 was the eighth of nine NBA seasons that West would play for the Timberwolves. Unlike the season prior or years to follow, he was a fixture for the Timberwolves roster and started 66 games for the team. Despite so many starts, and with an average of 28.2 minutes per game, his offensive output plummeted.
Despite being a player with the fourth-most minutes per game, he fell to the seventh-best scorer on the team. Making matters worse, he was a defensive liability for the team.
He did step up for the Timberwolves in the 1997 NBA Playoffs, putting up an average of 11.0 points per game. He would even enhance his assists, averaging 2.0 assists per game as well.
The Timberwolves needed strong perimeter offense and defense to give proper spacing to allow Kevin Garnett to work his magic. In this season, Doug West would not supply much of either.
III: C Michael Olowokandi (2003-04)
GS 25 | 21.5 MPG | 6.5 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 5.7 RPG | 0.6 APG | 0.4 SPG | 1.6 BPG
This is the second appearance of Michael Olowokandi on this list. His career continues to showcase how challenging it was for the Minnesota Timberwolves to find and retain a compatible and productive center for the Timberwolves during the Kevin Garnett Era.
As we had discussed previously, Olowokandi was a competent and productive NBA center during his five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. But when he signed as an NBA free agent to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he clearly was not the same player as before.
While the Timberwolves would finish the 2003-04 season with a 58-24 record, Olowokandi seemed to be more along for the ride than a true contributor to the Timberwolves’ success. In fact, while appearing in 15 playoff games, Olowokandi would see just two starts. In the postseason, he would average just 2.1 points per game.
Olowokandi would play into the 2005-06 NBA season for the Timberwolves, before being traded away to the Boston Celtics. Of his nine NBA seasons, his best years were clearly those seasons with the Clippers. He was one of four centers on the Timberwolves roster in 2003-04. Unfortunately, two of them appear on this list.
II: C Michael Olowokandi (2005-06)
GS 24 | 23.5 MPG | 6.0 PPG | 0.0 3P% | 5.6 RPG | 0.5 APG | 0.6 SPG | 0.8 BPG
Okay, this is the third time that Michael Olowokandi appears on the list of All-Time 15 Worst Starters of the Kevin Garnett era. So what makes this season the worst of the bunch? Well, it was so bad that before the season ended, the Timberwolves decided to trade Olowokandi, other players, and a 2009 first-round draft pick to the Boston Celtics for four players and two second-round picks.
The Kandi Man averaged more minutes than his 2003-04 season, but his production declined across the board. While speculating, I have to believe that was the final straw, and the team began to seek avenues to part ways with the 7-foot-0 center.
While I do not fault the Minnesota Timberwolves for rolling the dice on an accomplished NBA center of Michael Olowokandi’s credentials prior to signing with the Timberwolves, it was painfully obvious that the Timberwolves’ front office presumed that he would perform just as well, if not better, on the Timberwolves roster than he had with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The result of that error in judgment meant that the Timberwolves, and the final years of Kevin Garnett with the Timberwolves, would carry Olowokandi beyond his value.
I: SG/SF Trenton Hassell (2006-07)
GS 68 | 29.3 MPG | 6.7 PPG | 24.0 3P% | 3.2 RPG | 2.7 APG | 0.3 SPG | 0.3 BPG
Topping the list of worst Timberwolves starters of the Kevin Garnett era is wingman Trenton Hassell. Hassell was a shooting guard who played nine seasons in the NBA. Four of his nine years of NBA play were with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Hassell was a 6-foot-5 200-pound shooting guard who was selected with the 30th overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft. The Bulls waived him in October 2003, and the team acted quickly to sign him to the Timberwolves roster.
He showed signs of continued development, reaching an apex in the 2005-06 NBA season when he started 67 games and put up 9.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, 0.6 SPG, and 0.4 BPG. While not an NBA All-Star level of production, it was a promising trend that would lead many to expect him to average better than 10 points per game in the 2006-07 season.
Instead, he regressed. While his 29.3 minutes per game ranked him as the fourth-most active player on the Timberwolves roster, his scoring of 6.7 points per game would rank him as the seventh-best scorer on the team. Worse than that, his perimeter shot accuracy of just 24.0 percent was no better than ninth-best on the team.
He would be traded to the Dallas Mavericks at the end of this season for journeyman wing Greg Buckner. The Timberwolves had one of the greatest legends in NBA history in PF Kevin Garnett. It is so disappointing that, as this list shows, the team struggled mightily to build a complementary roster around him.