Grade The Trade #10: Young/KG (Final Trade to date)

[Carlos Danger]

February 19, 2015

Traded Thaddeus Young to the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Garnett.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What a waste.

[Coolbreeze44]

Hate both guys, but this was a bad trade.

[TAFKASP]

Have to say this was meh to bad. Meh simply because Young did not fit with this team, now or in the future. Bad because you would hope to get more than an expiring KG in return, especially given the pick the Wolves gave up to get Young.

Regarding KG's lack of impact this year, they were in tank mode prior to getting him so his sitting on the bench was a non-issue to me. To me the KG aspect of this trade will not be known until we see what they sign him for and how much impact he has going into next season when they'll be expected to at least double this years win total.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I get it. Nobody wanted Young here... not with that contract. Fair enough.

But the Wolves could have gotten SOMETHING in return for him. The guy is starting for a team making a late-season run for the playoffs. Garnett was used as a 2-week marketing plan.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The fact than any of you voted this as anything other than "bad trade" is embarrassing.

We traded a useful, decent, skilled forward for a guy that is 12-years older and hasn't played in the large majority of our games. If his name was Mike McWhoGivesAShit, this would be unanimously agreed upon as a bad trade. But his name is Kevin Garnett and he's the best player in franchise history and blah blah blah.

Flip, as well as plenty on this board, have spun this trade into the NBA equivalent of Jesus returning to save his faithful followers. KG's back, he'll not only significantly improve our on-court product (in 20 minutes or less no doubt), BUT he'll ALSO mentor Bennett, Payne, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, 2015 pick to success! Hooray, hooray! NBA Jesus saves the day!

It's a load of shit. Bad trade from the day it happened, KG's played like five games since, nothing's changed... Except we threw away Young, who has helped revitalize the Nets into making a playoff push. Fantastic trade for them.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The fact than any of you voted this as anything other than "bad trade" is embarrassing.

We traded a useful, decent, skilled forward for a guy that is 12-years older and hasn't played in the large majority of our games. If his name was Mike McWhoGivesAShit, this would be unanimously agreed upon as a bad trade. But his name is Kevin Garnett and he's the best player in franchise history and blah blah blah.

Flip, as well as plenty on this board, have spun this trade into the NBA equivalent of Jesus returning to save his faithful followers. KG's back, he'll not only significantly improve our on-court product (in 20 minutes or less no doubt), BUT he'll ALSO mentor Bennett, Payne, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, 2015 pick to success! Hooray, hooray! NBA Jesus saves the day!

It's a load of shit. Bad trade from the day it happened, KG's played like five games since, nothing's changed... Except we threw away Young, who has helped revitalize the Nets into making a playoff push. Fantastic trade for them.

Well, Cam, it looks like we have 9 guys here who are "embarrassing", and only five others who share your love for your cousin Thad...I can only conclude that I need to find a board with smarter guys!

This trade has been analyzed ad nauseum in its own thread, but I'll rehash my position anyway. It has been divulged that Thad was going to opt out at the end of the year, so Flip wanted to get something for him. And it's clear to the "embarrassing" cadre here that a PF that can't rebound or defend very well, and has the control to leave in just a few months, is not a very valuable commodity in the NBA. Contrary to your statement, if Flip had traded Thad for Mike McWhoGivesAShit, and Mike was at least an average NBA defender and rebounder, I would have still liked this trade...and I suspect some of my embarrassing friends would have too. But instead Flip was able to bring back one of the top 25 players of all time, albeit near the end of his career. And despite his age, KG demonstrated in the 5 games he played how much better he makes this club offensively and defensively, and the thrilling moments he provided in the couple games I attended were among the most memorable moments of the season. Flip used KG's "knee" as an excuse to shut him down for the season (I'm going to watch him throw out the first pitch for the Twins in about 5 hours, and I'm going to watch closely to see how he is moving), because he wanted ping pong balls, not wins. I agree that the mentoring narrative is largely a crock, but I'm convinced that KG is going to give us 20 valuable minutes next year and help up get to the playoffs.

Call it embarrassing if you wish, but to me it's a no brainer that this was a great trade.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The fact than any of you voted this as anything other than "bad trade" is embarrassing.

We traded a useful, decent, skilled forward for a guy that is 12-years older and hasn't played in the large majority of our games. If his name was Mike McWhoGivesAShit, this would be unanimously agreed upon as a bad trade. But his name is Kevin Garnett and he's the best player in franchise history and blah blah blah.

Flip, as well as plenty on this board, have spun this trade into the NBA equivalent of Jesus returning to save his faithful followers. KG's back, he'll not only significantly improve our on-court product (in 20 minutes or less no doubt), BUT he'll ALSO mentor Bennett, Payne, Wiggins, LaVine, Rubio, 2015 pick to success! Hooray, hooray! NBA Jesus saves the day!

It's a load of shit. Bad trade from the day it happened, KG's played like five games since, nothing's changed... Except we threw away Young, who has helped revitalize the Nets into making a playoff push. Fantastic trade for them.

Well, Cam, it looks like we have 9 guys here who are "embarrassing", and only five others who share your love for your cousin Thad...I can only conclude that I need to find a board with smarter guys!

This trade has been analyzed ad nauseum in its own thread, but I'll rehash my position anyway. It has been divulged that Thad was going to opt out at the end of the year, so Flip wanted to get something for him. And it's clear to the "embarrassing" cadre here that a PF that can't rebound or defend very well, and has the control to leave in just a few months, is not a very valuable commodity in the NBA. Contrary to your statement, if Flip had traded Thad for Mike McWhoGivesAShit, and Mike was at least an average NBA defender and rebounder, I would have still liked this trade...and I suspect some of my embarrassing friends would have too. But instead Flip was able to bring back one of the top 25 players of all time, albeit near the end of his career. And despite his age, KG demonstrated in the 5 games he played how much better he makes this club offensively and defensively, and the thrilling moments he provided in the couple games I attended were among the most memorable moments of the season. Flip used KG's "knee" as an excuse to shut him down for the season (I'm going to watch him throw out the first pitch for the Twins in about 5 hours, and I'm going to watch closely to see how he is moving), because he wanted ping pong balls, not wins. I agree that the mentoring narrative is largely a crock, but I'm convinced that KG is going to give us 20 valuable minutes next year and help up get to the playoffs.


Call it embarrassing if you wish, but to me it's a no brainer that this was a great trade.

Isn't the point that the Wolves could have received something of value for Young... and still signed Garnett for next season?

By the way, I used to think Garnett was done. Why would he want to play for another season at a huge discount for a probable 50-loss team? But, it's a pretty sweet gig. Play when you want... for as long as you want. Choose to stay home... go to the arena... and receive praise and acclaim when you do.

Even for a paycut... still a sweet gig for a few million. I'd prefer a hard-nosed veteran presence who can do it consistently and not only when he and the front office deems it's important. If Garnett's not "all in"... why bother for everybody involved? It might do more of a disservice (like this season) more than anything.

Young was traded for Garnett for marketing/promotional (feel good) purposes only.

[alexftbl8181 [enjin:6648741]]

kinda ironic long that you say a PF who can't rebound or defend and who could leave at the end of the year has little to no value, when FLIP GAVE UP A 1ST ROUND PICK FOR THE GUY NOT BUT A FEW MONTHS AGO. I find it hard to believe his value dropped that much over a 3 month span

[Carlos Danger]

This one looks like split, so I'll toss in my thought process. I voted "meh". Thad didn't play great here. I'm not saying he's a terrible player. It just didn't look like a good fit here. And that's all I really used to rate this deal. KG hasn't done much either obviously. But I believe the the trade was done because they had concluded Thad wasn't going to be part of the team going forward so they wanted to open up playing time for Bennett and Payne to evaluate them. Anything they get from KG was to be a bonus. For that reason "meh" IMO. I wish they could have gotten more for Thad. But I have to assume they tried and the market value just wasn't there.