This article is part of our Hoops Lab series.
Kevin Garnett is trending on Twitter right now.
I wrote that sentence on Wednesday night. That's a sentence that I haven't been able to type for awhile, and as recently as last week I wouldn't have thought I'd have been typing it this season.
But on Wednesday, for the first time since April 2007, No. 21 suited up for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On a fantasy front, this wasn't an earth-shaking event. Garnett played 19 minutes, scored five points (2-for-7 FG, 1-for-2 FT) with eight rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. Numbers about what you expect from him this year. But as CBS Sportsline tweeted…
The world seems like a cooler place with Kevin Garnett back on the Timberwolves. pic.twitter.com/i8QfSsRTOM
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 26, 2015Y'all are going to have to indulge me for a moment. I was planning on writing about the craziness of the trade deadline this week, but really, EVERYONE wrote about the craziness of the trade deadline. I'll address some of the fall-out below, but today I've got to weigh in on Garnett's return. As some of you know, I'm about as big of a Garnett fan as there is. And watching him wind down his career as a part-time player on a Brooklyn Nets squad that couldn't get out of his own way was kind of depressing. Interestingly, though, when the trade was first rumored I wasn't as excited as many were:
I can't wrap my head around KG trade.
Kevin Garnett is trending on Twitter right now.
I wrote that sentence on Wednesday night. That's a sentence that I haven't been able to type for awhile, and as recently as last week I wouldn't have thought I'd have been typing it this season.
But on Wednesday, for the first time since April 2007, No. 21 suited up for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
On a fantasy front, this wasn't an earth-shaking event. Garnett played 19 minutes, scored five points (2-for-7 FG, 1-for-2 FT) with eight rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. Numbers about what you expect from him this year. But as CBS Sportsline tweeted…
The world seems like a cooler place with Kevin Garnett back on the Timberwolves. pic.twitter.com/i8QfSsRTOM
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) February 26, 2015Y'all are going to have to indulge me for a moment. I was planning on writing about the craziness of the trade deadline this week, but really, EVERYONE wrote about the craziness of the trade deadline. I'll address some of the fall-out below, but today I've got to weigh in on Garnett's return. As some of you know, I'm about as big of a Garnett fan as there is. And watching him wind down his career as a part-time player on a Brooklyn Nets squad that couldn't get out of his own way was kind of depressing. Interestingly, though, when the trade was first rumored I wasn't as excited as many were:
I can't wrap my head around KG trade. Happy he's going where he could be appreciated. Sad he'll miss playoffs. No idea where goes from here
— Andre Snellings (@ProfessorDrz) February 19, 2015As a side note, I hadn't realized how much I've been tweeting and re-tweeting lately…I had to scroll WAY down to get back to something I wrote last week. But anyway, as I alluded to, I didn't really see a a point in Garnett returning to Minnesota now. The Timberwolves had 12 wins, and were headed DEEP into the lottery. Assuming that Garnett may have been retiring at year's end, it seemed to me like it would have made sense to stick it out in Brooklyn for the season, try to make the playoffs and see what might happen. In the East, you never know. And if he was planning to keep playing, he would have been a free agent this summer and he could have just signed with the Wolves then. Or so my thoughts went.
One of my followers in particular, Mark Troyer, took issue with my hesitance. He said that the Nets were (paraphrased) a dumpster fire, and that it made sense for Garnett to return home to retire. I countered that it would only make sense if he was planning to stick around for another year, at least, because that's where he could make the biggest influence on the younger players and you'd think he'd at least want to go out with the hope of making the postseason. And sure enough, a few minutes later…
THIS makes sense @Marctroyer RT @basketballtalk Report: Timberwolves hope to sign Kevin Garnett to two-year extension http://t.co/RwkumPVEdR
— Andre Snellings (@ProfessorDrz) February 19, 2015So, at this point my head gets into the idea of the trade. But over the next week, as all of the "Coming home" YouTube montages and outpouring of excitement from Timberwolves fans kept pouring in, my heart started getting into it too. This montage, in particular, really brought back how absurd KG was the last time he put on the Timberwolves uniform:
Easy to forget how ridiculous he was RT:@TimBontemps: Pretty incredible video from @talkhoops about Kevin Garnetthttps://t.co/v1VWaD3TR3 …
— Andre Snellings (@ProfessorDrz) February 25, 2015And then there was Wednesday night, when Garnett finally got to suit up again in the Target Center. First of all, the crowd was nuts. The Timberwolves had to sell some extra standing room tickets, and even that overflow sold out. On a Wednesday. In February. For a 12-win team. The introduction was enough to give you goose bumps. Don't believe me? Ask LeBron:
Sending chills through my body watching the TWolves annonce KG to the home crowd during intros! #Crazy#NoPlaceLikeHome#StriveForGreatness
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 26, 2015The crowd gave KG standing ovations at just about every timeout. They chanted "MVP MVP" when he shot free throws. There was an electricity that I haven't seen at the Target Center for a LONG time, and it was great to see.
And the game itself was fun. After spotting the Washington Wizards a huge lead early as all of the Wolves tried to get past their jitters, Minnesota outscored the Wizards 94 – 59 over the last 40 minutes of the game. And Garnett was mega into the game, even when he was on the bench. Every time out, every huddle, every time he sat down, Garnett had one or two of the young Timberwolves listening while he was jawing. Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic…whoever happened to be in the vicinity, KG was in their ear. And apparently, this had started in the first practice that Garnett had attended:
@rickyrubio9 via Sota announcer: KG yelled at Pekovic yesterday in practice, not once but twice. 1st time he's heard Pek yelled at like that
— Andre Snellings (@ProfessorDrz) February 26, 2015And the players, announcers, and viewers could all tell an immediate difference in performance as the 12-win Timberwolves blew out the playoff-bound Wizards, prompting reactions like this from other fan bases:
Can we borrow Kevin Garnett for a few weeks? Just to whip this team into shape. They just don't know how to close out games. #Magic
— Orlando Magic Daily (@OMagicDaily) February 26, 2015Anyway, it was just one game. The Timberwolves aren't suddenly the best team in the league. KG didn't suddenly revert to his former MVP glory. The Wolves will still be picking (high) in the lottery come June. But it just felt right to have Garnett, nearing the end of his playing days, back in Minnesota. The wave of legends from the late 90s are all winding down their careers: Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Garnett all have the finish line in site. But while the other three former MVPs are still playing for the teams where they made their names with fanbases that adore them, Garnett had been toiling as a two-year rental in a city where he had no history. Where he was respected, but not fully appreciated.
I often say that Garnett is the most overlooked, forgotten best player in the NBA. But for one night, the Big Ticket got to again enjoy his moment in the sun. And I enjoyed it right with him.
Around the League:
Trade deadline craziness: Every NBA writer, including several of my RotoWire brethren, weighed in on the trade deadline moves and the immediate aftermath. The ramifications of the deadline moves will weave all through the rest of this article, but I wanted to include this tweet which was the best summary I saw of all of the craziness of a trade deadline in which about one in every 10 active NBA players swapped teams in one day:
OH, OK. Now I get it. pic.twitter.com/S4HGDkGCfI
— Dustin Toms (@Dustin_Toms) February 20, 2015Russell Westbrook in Feb. - 31.2 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 10.3 APG Only other player in NBA history to average 30-9-10 in a month is Oscar Robertson.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 28, 2015The same source also pointed out that in the seven games that Durant missed in February, Westbrook averaged a 31.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 11.3 apg triple-double. And he is currently on a three-game triple-double streak, putting a stamp on his own meteoric rise to the tops of the NBA MVP lists.
That said, Westbrook's shot-out-of-a-cannon style backfired a bit at the end of Friday's game when his teammate Andre Roberson accidentally kneed him in the head and left a crater in his face. A crater?
Dude, Westbrook has a crater in the side of his head
— Andre Snellings (@ProfessorDrz) February 28, 2015Yup, a crater.
This picture of Westy looks awful. Not good. Not good at all. pic.twitter.com/rvz0ESGI5J
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) February 28, 2015Word has not been released on the extent of the injury, or whether Westbrook will have to miss time. It would be a shame to break up such a hot streak, but when someone has a crater in their face it seems clear to me that medical attention is required.
Injuries to major players affecting the landscape: It seems to me that there are more injuries to front-end players right now than there have been in recent seasons. As pointed out by Michael Gallagher before the games Friday night:
KD, Bron, Rose,Brow,Boogie,Melo, Blake,Bosh, D12,Kyrie, Pau, B-Jen,Kemba, Jrue, Kobe, Sully, Beal, Ryno,Jabari,Collison & more are out 2nite
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) February 27, 2015Rose's knee surgery not the end?:Derrick Rose had knee surgery on Friday to repair a medial meniscus tear, and is expected to be out 4 – 6 weeks. This was actually a better-than-expected prognosis, as when I first heard about the injury I thought he was done into next season. Rose is essentially done for fantasy purposes this season and can be dropped, but it sounds as though he could possibly be back for the playoffs.
Kyrie's shoulder strain:Kyrie Irving sat out Friday's game after an MRI revealed a shoulder strain. The injury is considered minor though, so he will be evaluated again before Sunday's game.
Rudy Rudy Rudy: One of the big deadline deals sent Enes Kanter to Oklahoma City, which opened up Rudy Gobert to become the starting center in Utah. Regulars in the Lab know that I've been high on Gobert all season, and now he looks like one of the best roto centers in the NBA moving forward. In his last three games, he has averaged 11 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks on 62 percent shooting from the field. All of these are sustainable for Gobert, and he actually has solid upside to be better.
Mo and Reggie:Mo Williams and Reggie Jackson were both back-up point guards that had shown that they could shine when given minutes on their old teams. Then, both were traded to teams that had holes at point guard and thus, predictably, they are shining for their new clubs. Williams has played a bit better so far (averaging 23.5 points, 6.0 assists, 3.8 treys, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in four games in Charlotte) but at some point starter Kemba Walker will return and cut his production. So, enjoy him while you can. Jackson, on the other hand, is the expected starter in Detroit moving forward and has averaged 18.3 points, 6.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and a trey per game since joining the Pistons.
RIP Mase: Anthony Mason died on Saturday morning at the age of 48. He was part of one of the most physically menacing frontlines in NBA history with the Knicks in the 90s. RIP, Mase.
New Additions
Mo Williams (57 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues): Williams' ownership level is a bit too high for this space, but I was surprised that it was still so low in the face of how he's been playing. As mentioned above, he should be starting in every league until Walker returns.
Jeremy Lin (56 percent owned): Lin has been playing excellent ball since the All-Star break. As pointed out by LA Daily News columnist Mark Medina:
Jeremy Lin's stats since All-Star break: 16.25 points on 47.8% clip, 4.25 assists, .5 turnovers through 4 games
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 28, 2015Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (35 percent owned): While all eyes have been on the Pistons' point guard situation over the last couple of months, quietly their shooting-guard-of-the-future has been turning into the shooting-guard-of-the-present. KCP has scored at least 19 points in four of his last five games, and over that stretch is averaging 19.6 points, 3.6 treys, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 34 minutes per game.
Aaron Brooks (33 percent owned): Brooks has moved into the starting line-up in Chicago with Derrick Rose done for the next six weeks. Brooks had a bad game on Friday in his first start against the Timberwolves, but he has explosive scoring ability and 3-point range, which should pay dividends with starter minutes.
Alexis Ajinca (7 percent owned): Ajinca is only relevant for as long as Anthony Davis is out, and that could end any time now. That said, he's valuable every day until then. Over his last three outings, he is averaging 16.7 points, seven rebounds and two blocks on 21-of-38 shooting from the floor (55 percent) despite only 23 minutes per game.
Markel Brown (2 percent owned): Brown burst onto the fantasy radar with a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double in 45 minutes last week against the Nuggets. There was some thought that this was a fluke performance due to the minutes and blowout nature of the contest, but he has followed that game up with two more decent outings where he got 30 – 35 minutes. All told, over his last three games, Brown is averaging 10.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals in 37 minutes per game.
Keeping up with the Professor
If you're interested in my takes throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter @ProfessorDrz. Also, don't forget that you can catch me on RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today with Chris Liss and Jeff Erickson on XM 87, Sirius 210. I also co-host the RotoWire Fantasy Basketball Podcast with Kyle McKeown once a week and co-host the Celtics Beat podcast on CLNS Radio about once a month.
