The Timberwolves start the post-KG era tonight at 7 p.m. at Target Center against the best team in the NorthWest division - the Denver Nuggets. Although tonight is just one game in a season that almost definitively will result in another Timberwolf absence from the playoffs, it does serve as an early litmus test for the new centerpiece in our extremely young lineup - Al Jefferson. Tonight will be a test for our new “star” as he bangs around with the likes of Nene, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin for 48 minutes. Jefferson is likely to supply what we have been missing during the KG era - Low post scoring. In other words, easy buckets. We have been a jump-shooting team for 15 years, but now with Jefferson, Craig Smith and Chris Richard, we are a smashmounth team that will score in the paint and get a lot of easy baskets off offensive rebounds and breakdowns in defensive rotation; which is probably just what a young team needs.
Despite the new look, I think the greatest source of optimism is the attitude of our new Big Ticket. Jefferson seems to be every bit the team player that KG was, at almost half the price.
Late Wednesday, Jefferson accepted that $65 million deal against the advice of his agent. On Thursday, he made an astounding statement for a professional athlete, saying he didn’t deserve a maximum deal approaching $80 million because he hasn’t proven himself yet.
He will earn $11 million next season and will receive a $1 million raise every year for four years after that.
“I wanted to get in my head, get in my heart that I’m going to be here,” he said. “They traded for me. They traded one of the best players in the NBA for me. I felt this is where I needed to be. This is where I want to be.”
Here is great article from the fish rap factory-west side of the river-that tells more of the story.
1 response so far ↓
1 Greg // Nov 2, 2007 at 8:02 pm
This last summer’s trade of Kevin Garnett to the Celtics is an icon for the lack of ethics in the Professional Sports World. Not that they were known for being very moral in the past, but this does it for me. KG is most likely, no definitely the best pro sports player of all time, period. There’s no reason to mention his numbers, everyone know them already, or that he came right out of High School. None of those things distinguish him from the many other greats before. However, KG’s loyalty, integrity and core of what a human being should be are all what distinguish him. All these years he stayed with us and every year the management spat it back in his face. Every season I thought, “this is it, this time it’s gonna happen.” But no, the incompetent and arrogant management has failed the fans and the players once again. The NBA isn’t a common place to hear talk of conspiracies, but so far this past years most if not all trades were done with the Celtics. Long story short, Kevin McHale can eat shit and go to hell!
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