Though a more timely topic might be the Nets’ 89-83 win over the Wizards on a night when neither Jason Kidd nor Gilbert Arenas were particularly sharp, we’ll instead hop in the way-back-machine for Dave D’Allessandro’s pessimism over Kevin Garnett suiting up for Team Ratner. From yesterday’s Newark Star-Ledger.
KG makes $18 million this year, and turns 30 in May.
Vince Carter makes $13.8 million, turns 29 in January.
Richard Jefferson makes $10.2, but he is a base-year compensation player, which means his salary is only $5.1 million if he were to be used in a trade.
Minnesota would settle for nothing less than both Carter and Jefferson.
So the VC-RJ combo works in trade, but the questions you have to ask yourself are these: Would Minnesota do better elsewhere (probably not), and would the Nets even consider such a thing (under consideration, probably not)?
Believe it or not, there are some people in the Nets™ organization that would do it. We™d be surprised if Rod Thorn and Ed Stefanski were among them, however. They™d part with one of them, but not both. And Minnesota would not accept a Carter/Krstic/McInnis or Carter/Collins ($5.5M, but $2.75 BYC) counteroffer. Yes, the Wolves need a star in return, someone who would keep the fans interested, and Vince can do that. But they aren™t stupid enough to trade the league™s most accomplished big for anything but another accomplished big.
In the end, we think KG will practice his grumble long enough to be granted his freedom, but where he stops, nobody knows right now. But we know this much: The Wolves cannot move KG for anything less than a young stud and multiple draft picks in return. If Kevin McHale is truly a motivated seller, the first place he should look is Orlando, which has the stud (Dwight Howard), a high pick, and a big salary (Grant Hill) to make it all add up.