Trust me you can buy crack in Oakland, CA.

[birdsanctuary]

Thought you might get a kick out of this read. The guy even lists his phone number, maybe Kevin McHale might give him a call?


Garnett would be big-name fix for Warriors' small-ball troubles
By Tim Kawakami
Mercury News

Close your eyes, Warriors fans. Imagine Kevin Garnett and Baron Davis, teamed together in blue and yellow to topple the San Antonio dictatorship.

Oh, I'd bet Chris Mullin smiles when he pictures it, almost as much as he grimaces when he visualizes yet another full-season power shortage at the Warriors' power forward spot.

I'd guess Mullin would do just about anything -- and offer to trade just about anybody -- if he had the teeny-tiniest shot at this superstar unification.

Open your eyes, Warriors fans: The Unofficial Garnett Trade Market just revved to life this week, and Mullin could turn out to be a very intriguing and very motivated participant.

The Warriors beat smallish New Jersey 100-97 on Monday at Oakland Arena, and the Warriors once again provided many examples of the strengths and weaknesses of this small, fun, limited lineup.

I'd argue that Mullin has built up this roster too well, with too many interesting pieces, to be overmatched (at times) by a Net named Nenad Krstic, to be intimated by Elton Brand (which happened Sunday in Los Angeles), to be forced to chuck wildly from outside to generate offense (every game), and to be shuffling around .500 in the muddled Western Conference.

If it works brilliantly and if Davis' legs hold up, Small Ball can get them to the playoffs. If it gets bogged down, everything drags to a halt and the defensive liabilities are too much to overcome.

Kevin Garnett could guard Brand, score from the post and fix all this. Kevin Garnett, with career averages of 20.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots, could be gettable, if the Warriors offer anybody and everybody not named Baron Davis.

Just wait. I think they will.

Now, I'm not saying that the Timberwolves want to trade the 6-foot-11 Garnett, who is only 29 and only 17 months removed from his 2003-04 MVP season.

But he's clearly not happy in Minnesota after last season's tumble and he is letting people know about it. If his complaints get any edgier (so far, just a few shots at executive Kevin McHale) and if the bids get tempting, Minnesota might just pull the trigger by late February and start over.

OK, I admit that the Warriors don't have more to offer than Detroit or Indiana, who have playoff-proven players to spare. But those teams have chemistry and a real shot at a title without Garnett, so both might be reluctant to go all-in at deadline time.

So if you're Minnesota, do you want the New York Knicks' raggedy collection of expiring salaries or a potential Warriors package of Jason Richardson, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and a No. 1 pick?

Sure, Minnesota would be getting the short end. But look back at the Shaquille O'Neal or Tracy McGrady deals -- nobody ever gets fair value for disgruntled superstars.

The Warriors could give up a soon-to-be All-Star (Richardson), a shooting forward with Midwestern appeal (Murphy, a Notre Dame product), either Diogu, Andris Biedrins or Chris Taft and a couple of No. 1 picks.

As an added bonus, the Warriors could offer to take back the chunky long-term salaries of Trenton Hassell and Mark Madsen and give Minnesota Adonal Foyle, if it wants a center.

It could definitely work under salary-cap rules, and nobody in the East Bay should be worried about the $66 million Garnett is owed through the 2008-09 season, which is also the length of Davis' deal.

A projected Warriors post-trade lineup: Garnett, Biedrins, Mike Dunleavy, Mickael Pietrus and Davis. With possibly Taft, Hassell, Zarko Cabarkapa, Madsen and Derek Fisher coming off the bench.

Mullin would be crazy not to offer that deal or something similar, and Mullin isn't crazy. Of course, after failing to land Jamaal Magloire, he could also be in the market for Toronto's Chris Bosh.

But Garnett is everybody's top target and Mullin relishes being the hot market's gutsiest bidder.

A few years ago, before Mullin took over, the Warriors buzz was all about Yao Ming, which I understood but never could quite figure. Now Yao's signed long-term with Houston and the Warriors still need a post-man savior.

Monday evening, Coach Mike Montgomery even suggested that their best-case defender against a rugged post scorer might be Pietrus.

Of course, Pietrus also happens to be their best wing defender and best point-guard defender and he doesn't actually start -- plus, Pietrus suffered a knee sprain in the first half Monday and didn't return.

There has to be another option, and now we all know what the ultimate dream really is.


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Have a question for Tim Kawakami? Go to www.mercurynews.com/sports or e-mail tkawakami@mercurynews.com. His phone is (408) 920-5442.

[aexchange]

it probably takes jrich, pietrus, diogu, murphy and a #1 to make it work.

not sure if thats a price GS is willing to pay. although i think minny would probably take the jrich, digou, murphy, #1. i think its better than what the mavs could do.

[chumdawg]

The Warriors are the new Mavs.

[seelenjaeger]

I don´t think Garnett will be that expensive, Minnie would want mostly cap relief (shipping Hassell and either Hudson or Jaric along, maybe also Kandi) and picks and -some- young talent, that´s all you need to start rebuilding.

Getting back too many "quality" guys on long contracts only makes the rebuilding work alot harder.

That said, I think GS has a good shot with that offer IF Garnett is on the block.