Minnesota Sports Forum

Good read on KG situation. https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2016/06/30/value-kevin-garnett-timberwolves/

Pretty good stuff. Here are my wishes for KG next year...first choice and second choice:

1) If his knee is anywhere near where it was the first part of last season, I want him starting and playing 15-20 MPG at PF. I'm drooling at the prospect of watching KAT/KG/Deng/Wig/Rubio shutting down opposing offenses even better than a similar starting lineup did last year with Prince, with a much better offense.

2) If his knee is not good, I hope he declines his option and gives us an additional $8 million to spend.

KG was a big plus for us defensively last year when he was on the court. I wouldn't expect to see him for more than 10-12 minutes a night though. But for one year, why not?

That lineup you mention LST, KAT/KG/Deng/Wig/Rubio could be pretty good, and defensively, it could be awesome, though it would hurt not to have much outside shooting from the 1 and 2. We could still bring LaVine, Dieng, and Dunn, and to a lesser extent Bjelica and Bazz and Tyus off the bench. You could put some good combinations on the floor there, especially because of the versatile, 2 way players we've got. Assuming you start the lineup you mentioned, LST, it could look like this:

Rubio (30), Dunn (12), Tyus (6)
Wiggins (eight), LaVine (32), Dunn (eight)
Deng (16), Wiggins (26), Bazz (6)
Towns (16), Dieng (10), Deng (14), Bjelica (eight)
KG (10), Towns (20), Dieng (18)

I would like to see a changing 9 man rotation with KG, Tyus, Bazz, and Bjelica seeing the bench some nights, but ultimately averaging the following total minutes: Towns (36), Wiggins (32), LaVine (32), Rubio (30), Deng (30), Dieng (28), Dunn (20), KG (10), Bjelica (eight), Bazz (6), Tyus (6).

Starting with Rubio, Wiggins, Deng, Towns, and KG would allow Wiggins and Towns to focus on getting started offensively, which worked well for us last year when we had KG and Prince in the lineup. Then I'd take out KG, put in LaVine, and go with Rubio, LaVine, Wiggins, Deng, Towns with LaVine as the offensive focal point. After that, bring in Dunn as the PG spot and we're crazy athletic 1-3, still with a balance of defense and offense, and bring in Dieng for Deng. Maybe later you bring in Bazz to run the floor or Bjelica to stretch it. Rinse, repeat. That rotation would be pretty good.

I'd almost assume KG will not be able to play for stretches of the season, and that would be ok because Towns and Dieng can still play the 5, and it would open up minutes for Deng, Bjelica, and on down the roster because some of these guys can play 2 positions (Dunn, Wiggins, Deng, Dieng, Towns).

I'd also look into trading Bazz if we get Deng, assuming we can get anything of value in return. There's not much need for Bazz beyond insurance, and if he leaves after next year, he's gone for nothing. Might as well try to get some kind of asset in return. In contrast, Payne's not going to get us anything, so we might as well keep him for some athletic bench insurance.