Kevin Garnett to Return to Minnesota Timberwovles?
By Josh Hill
With Doc Rivers now heading off to the Los Angeles Clippers, the big question in Boston is what will happen to Kevin Garnett next season? There is a growing belief that he will play at least one more season with the Celtics and then retire, but there is another option for Garnett in 2013-14 that could bring him back to his first NBA home.
Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports points out that a return to the Minnesota Timberwolves is not out of the question for the big man, although if he did head back to Minnesota to be with Flip Saunders, it would be within the front office and not the frontcourt.
"Garnett has two years, $24.4 million left on his Celtics deal, but there’s a growing belief that he’ll play one more season before retiring and joining his old coach, Flip Saunders, with a ceremonial role in Minnesota Timberwolves ownership, league sources told Y! Sports."
It’s no secret that the reason Garnett wanted to leave Minnesota in the first place had everything to do with the front office and how the team was run. He was very bitter towards guys like owner Glenn Taylor but he has the utmost respect for Saunders and guys like Rick Adelman who are in charge now more so than Taylor might have been during Garnett’s years in Minnesota.
So it would be wildly ironic that Garnett comes back to Minnesota in a role that may have played a part in driving him out of town in the first place. He likely wouldn’t have much power with the Timberwolves to start, as his role would be ceremonial. But with how fast Jason Kidd bounced from playing in the NBA to having a role coaching and creating facets within other aspects of the NBA, it’s not outside of the box to think that Saunders would use Garnett and coach him up in the front office the way he did on the court so many years ago.
Right now it’s looking though like Garnett will return to Boston in 2013-14 and play out at least one more year on the well paying contract of his. But players have been going back to where they have unfinished business it seems after they retire and Garnett would love nothing more than to return to the first fans that loved him and give them something in the front office he never could on the court.