If Garnett Opts Out, Where Does He Go...

He’s been a loyal soldier since they drafted him, but Kevin Garnett’s cryptic comments about his contract last week opens up a Pandora’s box of possibilities. They are his first public comments that imply that he might consider leaving Minnesota, although not through the trade demand everyone keeps anticipating, but through an opt-put clause in his contract for next season. In other words, while nobody expects him to hit the open market, Garnett could be a free agent this summer. Now, lets start by tempering our excitement: Garnett’s contract calls for him to earn 46 million in the next two years. If he opts out, there’s no possibility of Garnett recouping that money. Even if he signs a maximum contract with another team, the salary will start out in the 16 million a year range. Far shy of the 22 Minnesota will pay him next year. However, by season’s end, Garnett will already have earned 186 million in his career, in salary alone. That doesn’t include any shoe money, soft drink money, Gatorade money, or any other endorsements that the Kid has had. Last year he made an easy seven million shooting commercials. That might be a high water mark, but I think we can assume that he’s earned at least 14 million in his career in endorsements. Enough to push his career earnings over 200 million. Now there are a couple of truths here, first is that the more money you make, the more money you need, but the second is that incredibly gifted athletes, men who consider themselves to be the very best, not just of today, but of all time, need to win. It’s the ultimate validation of a great career, the difference between Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, Dan Marino and John Elway, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Snide NBA columnists could have told you two years ago, that the Timberwolves were no longer a team that could reasonably challenge for a title, this we thought would mean Garnett would ask for, and receive, a trade that would allow the Wolves to move on and Garnett to pursue a championship. That hasn’t happened. Perhaps until this deadline passed, Garnett really did believe that the Wolves were one player away. They aren’t, but there are a lot of other teams in the league who are one player away, especially if that one player were Kevin Garnett.

If Garnett puts himself on the open market, leaving behind the money Minnesota’s already promised him, then, perhaps, he’s deciding that 200 million is enough for one man. That 200 million can buy you anything, except of course the pure, unadulterated joy of winning a professional championship. And, if Garnett makes that decision, then it’s plausible that he could sign not just with the small handful of teams that have money to spend this offseason, but that he could sign with anyone. This isn’t such a crazy leap of faith. Teams with cap room are generally not contending teams, so if KG decides to opt out, he’s likely deciding to go for the gold, over earning the gold. The midlevel exception allows any team over the salary cap to sign a player for up to five million. So, conceivably, Garnett could decide that he really wants to win a championship and Dallas is the most likely place for him to accomplish that goal. Then for a mere five million, Mark Cuban could add Garnett to a team that right now is on pace for 70 wins. Now, there are all kinds of parameters around which Garnett might make his decision. He could decide that he wants to go for the sure bet (Dallas), or he could decide that he wants to be part of something uniquely special (Phoenix), or he could decide that he wants to be a bigger piece of the puzzle (LA Lakers), even if he isn’t the sole big fish. I’d bet that whatever he decides, it will involve not piggy-backing on whomever claims this year’s championship, so for now I’m going to ignore the two most likely NBA champions, Dallas and Phoenix, and give the ten most interesting destinations for Garnett:

New Jersey Nets – With Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson Garnett and the Nets would rule the East. So why don’t the Nets rank higher? Oh I don’t know, perhaps it’s because they’ve been pursuing Garnett for two years now, so them acquiring him just seems prosaic, or perhaps it’s just that Vince is a weenie and the Nets kind of bore me. Stupid and spiteful, I know, but I’d be kind of disappointed to see KG end up in the Garden State.

Washington Wizards – KG has never played with a prodigious scorer, and while there are better players out there, nobody quite lights it up like the Hibachi. KG’s arrival would probably mean that Antwaan Jamison would need relocating, but he’d still make a formidable threesome with Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. Plus, unlike Jamison, KG would shore up the Wizards defense, while adding that front court, low post presence they lack. If they weren’t championship favorites, the Wizards would at worst be Eastern conference favorites.

Denver Nuggets – The Nuggets are such a hodgepodge right now that it’s hard to know what Garnett’s presence would mean. Would his defense and workman-like attitude rub off on Carmelo Anthony, or would his presence make Marcus Camby feel even more alienated at the offensive end, and, like Camby, would he ever see the ball other than rebounding Iverson’s miss? So many questions, so many exciting possibilities.

Boston Celtics – Basically, I’m assuming that Garnett would choose a winning team and ignore anyone who dabbled in the lottery this year, but… If the Celtics end up with one of the top two picks, then that would give them either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. Combined with Garnett and current Celtic Paul Pierce, you’d have a formidable threesome, that could withstand the rookie’s first year growing pains. Either kid would be interesting, but the prospect of Garnett in the front court with Durant is particularly drool inducing. Garnett would also allow the Celtics to pair promising young forward Al Jefferson in a package with Theo Ratliff’s expiring contract for some serious backcourt help (like Jason Kidd). The Celtics could go from the worst team in basketball to champions, just like that. Tantalizing for those shamrock toting, Guinness drinking, hoops watching, ahhh… Bostonians.

Cleveland Cavaliers – LeBron meet Kevin, Kevin meet LeBron… need I say more?

Los Angeles Lakers – Kobe meet Kevin, Kevin meet Kobe… need I say more? Yes? Hmmph, fine. Big Chief Triangle, meet an unselfish big man, who rebounds like crazy, defends everyone, and scores in a myriad of different ways; Garnett might be the best possible partner for your surly, yet incredibly gifted star, and certainly should help you pass Red atop the Championship heap.

Chicago Bulls – Like New Jersey, Chicago has been trying to acquire Garnett for a couple of years now. So, it would be pretty ironic for them to sign him to a free agent deal, without having to give up any of their vaunted youngsters. The length of a Luol Deng – Garnett – Ben Wallace front court is frightening, at least for opposing teams. The Bulls will also have a small amount of cap room, not enough to offer Garnett anything near his value, but enough to offer more than the midlevel, which makes them something of a front runner. Ben Gordan, who dropped 48 last night, is looking pretty good right now, but with Garnett opening up the floor, he’ll look even better.

Miami Heat – The reality is that Shaquille O’Neal is now a shell of his former self, which given that he’s a really large shell wouldn’t be such a bad thing, if he weren’t grossly overpaid. Nothing would help account for that better than drastically underpaying Garnett. Twenty-five million seems about right for both of them, never mind that it should be 17-8 for Garnett. Pairing those two up front, with Dwayne Wade in the backcourt, might just be enough to keep Pat Riley on the bench another couple of years.

Houston Rockets – Is any player in all of basketball more of a Jeff Van Gundy guy than Kevin Garnett? Can you imagine how quickly Van Gundy would say yes to the idea of adding Garnett to play alongside Yao. Houston already sports basketball’s best defense, with Juwan Howard at the four, can you imagine how they’d be with KG? Offensively, Tracy McGrady has already shown that at this point in his career, he’s content to be the creator, pumping the ball into Yao, the behemoth center who remains a selfless superstar himself. Like Miami, KG would make a power troika that would have teams all over basketball wetting themselves. I have them ahead of Miami, because Houston’s role players are better, which I think makes them a more interesting destination. Garnett could not put himself in any better of a position unless his agent placed a call to…

San Antonio Spurs – Lets be honest here, Duncan has been a center for three years now, so officially changing his position in the guide book to accommodate Garnett wouldn’t be a problem. Garnett is the selfless, defensive-oriented player that Greg Popovich has built the Spurs around. He alone would help shore up the Spurs defense, which hasn’t exactly become vulnerable, but certainly lacks the terrifying invincibility it’s had in the past. And Garnett paired up front with Duncan, while Parker, and Ginobili dominate the perimeter, well that would certainly mean his greatest chance at a championship.

In reality, it’s more likely that KG uses the threat that he could leave for nothing to force a trade, thus getting out of Minnesota, but still earning the big bucks. Because of the ridiculous size of his contract, any deal for the Kid would be complicated and probably require three teams (Chicago for instance can no longer use their expiring deals to acquire him). Whatever the end result, his comments give hope to this observer, who wants to see KG somewhere in which his ridiculous talents can have meaning. Somewhere he can shed the dogged championship burden and join truly, unabashedly join the pantheon of greats.