This is the 13th in a 15-part series evaluating each Timberwolves player's performance during the 2014-15 season. Find the entire series here.
This wasn't Da Kid Timberwolves fans remember.
A few nights of basket-stanchion banging, talcum-powder clapping and crowd engaging quickly gave way to a pair of 38-year-old knees screaming at Kevin Garnett for reprieve. He listened, sitting out 24 of 29 games after Minnesota traded for its long-lost star.
The reunion was sweet. But the flavor lasted about as long as the Dubble Bubble popular in the Twins dugout these days.
But evaluating Garnett's short return to the Target Center floor is like grading an accounting major based solely upon his or her performance in an art elective. Head coach and president Flip Saunders wanted more minutes out of a power forward making north of $12 million a year, sure, but what he really desired was that tempestuous, relentless persona KG brings to a locker room -- the kind that personified Minnesota during its only glorious days and can rub off on its many youngsters today.
"You don't have to be on the court to be a mentor," said Saunders, who coached those late-'90s, early-2000s teams that made eight straight playoffs. "When KG came in, the idea was he's coming in to play. But he's going to play limited, not back-to-backs. Unfortunately for him is that his knee acted up. He's practiced . . . but those are controlled situations. You're not going up and down and all-of-a-sudden your knee gets tired or whatever. But he's been a huge mentor with these guys."
That was the public selling point. Behind the scenes, Garnett wants to put together an ownership group and purchase the Wolves someday, and Saunders would probably like a stake in it.
But that's all in the distance yet. Because the Wolves expect Garnett back.
And if he is, no matter the mentorship he provides, they'll probably want him to play in more than 17 percent of their games next year.
"I'm not just telling them, but showing them how," Garnett said of his relationship with Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine's and the rest of Minnesota's youth. "I think when you have this raw talent like you have here, it's important to give instruction and demonstrate. These kids have a skill level that got them here, and I'm just trying to give them the little things, the small things that only basketball players or players who have been in the league only know."
Scoring: C-
Since Boston traded Garnett to Brooklyn two summers ago, it's become apparent he's no longer the takeover point producer he once was. The past two seasons, he's averaged a career-low 6.5 and 6.9 points per game, respectively, while playing a little more than 20 minutes a night and usually sitting out the second day of back-to-backs.
Garnett scored 7.6 points per game in his five Wolves outings.
But that's not really Garnett's game anymore. In 2015, he's a guy whose IQ still allows him to take care of all the offensive details -- screens, spacing, clearing out the lane on rebounds, etc. -- and issue directives on the floor.
Rebounding: B-
Although his minutes restrictions and 20 seasons of wear and tear limit him, Garnett can still be a pain for opponents trying to seize a rebound. He averaged 5.2 per game for the Wolves and 6.6 the past two seasons combined.
This past one, he pulled down 11.8 boards per 36 minutes -- on par with some of his per-game numbers back when he used to play that much in one night.
Leadership: A
To break down this component -- the one Saunders says he values most -- we turn to some peer evaluation.
"He brings a different type of energy to the team, a different type of feeling on the court, off the court, even in the locker room," rookie of the year Wiggins said. "He had a huge impact on everybody here. Not only the players; people that are working, staff, everything. Even when he's not there on the court . . . you still feel his presence."
How, exactly?
"He was there every day. He was on the bench. He was at practice. He was in the locker room," LaVine said. "So you still see his routines, still practicing, getting up early before our shootarounds.
"It's great to have a dude like that. He's a Hall of Famer. That's what we all want to get to, and he has that type of aura about him that is so uplifting."
That's what Saunders sold owner Glen Taylor and a hoard of downtrodden fans when he dealt Thaddeus Young -- acquired in the Kevin Love trade last summer instead of Cleveland's 2015 first-round draft pick -- for Garnett at February's trade deadline. And all internal reviews point to a locker-room impact Wiggins and friends may someday look back at as an early turning point in their careers.
Overall: Incomplete
On a team that suffered so many injuries during a 16-66 season, this overall tally might apply to everyone. But in Garnett's case, the scope of his return goes far beyond the few games he played this past season.
He's an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and, if the Wolves front office is to be believed, will likely sign one more contract to finish his career where it all began for him as a 19-year-old. Saunders expects a decision early in the free-agent negotiating period, which begins July 1.
Then, with another blue-chip draft pick -- Minnesota can select no lower than fourth -- and a healthier Garnett in tow, we'd be treated to the full magnitude of a stacked young group with one of the game's most unique senseis chirping at teammates and moving closer toward the close of an illustrious playing career.
Garnett won't coach, he says. An executive role might precede him delving into ownership.
But we're not there just yet.
"He's given an indication he'd like to play another year," Saunders said of Garnett, who waived the no-trade clause in his contract to return to Minnesota. "If he does, we hope it'd be here. We have to wait and see."
Next: Ricky Rubio
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