Jeff: Is AI the Wolves Answer? Ya You Betcha!!

If you haven't heard by now, Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson has requested to be traded, and the team he wants to be traded to is none other than your Minnesota Timberwolves. Great Oden's Raven! Could it happen? Should the Wolves pull the trigger on the extremely talented and enigmatic guard? For awhile now I've been saying the Wolves need to trade Kevin Garnett, hopefully to the Chicago Bulls, for draft picks and young players to start over. Now?

GO GET AI!!!!!

Two reasons for my change of heart:
1) The Bulls can make the best offer for KG IF they were willing to include the Knicks #1 pick for the upcoming draft with Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon, and PJ Brown's expiring contract.
HOWEVER I have no idea if that trade has ever been offered, and more over, if that trade ever will be offered. I believe KG would be the perfect fit in Chicago to make them a championship contender, and the Bulls package of pick and players would best available. But there's no guarantee the Bulls are going to offer those players and that pick. None.

2) As the City Pages interview with Wolves owner Glen Taylor a couple of weeks ago made perfectly clear, the Wolves will not deal KG unless he asks them to. And he's not going to. And Taylor doesn't want to be known as the guy who traded The Franchise. And McHale doesn't have the cahones to do it either. So if they're not going to blow it up and start over, you HAVE to go for the gusto, take a gamble and go for it. I feel like I've said this a million times, but with the way the team is currently constructed (they have the league's 3rd worst cap situation behind the Knicks and Sixers), they're not going to be able to add much talent for the remainder of Garnett's contract terms. This team as currently constructed is not a playoff contender. So if you're not a playoff team with Garnett you either deal him and start over or take a chance on Iverson.

TAKE THAT CHANCE!!!

Does AI make the Wolves a title contender? Probably not. But they'd be a playoff team, and they'd be feisty. Very feisty. And maybe, just maybe, with AI AND KG on board, next summer you could talk a wiley veteran into signing a Gary Payton-type cheap contract to get a chance for a ring to bolster the roster.

Pull out all the stops, push all your chips to the middle of the table, and go get Iverson.

What can they offer? Anybody not named KG. Seriously. Foye's going to be a nice player, Mike James is a decent guard and...seriously everybody but Garnett should be offered. I would really like to see them keep Craig Smith because it's been so long since the Wolves have had a decent low-post presence. But if it takes including Smith, you do it.

Iverson makes about $18.3 million, so if my calculations are right, the Wolves would have to offer close to $17 million or so in returning salary to get a deal done. Here's an idea of what they could offer (salaries, as always, courtesy of hoopshype:

Foye ($2.5 million), Ricky Davis ($6.4 million & only 2 years left), Mike James ($6.1 with the 15% "trade kicker" if he's traded), and Eddie Griffin ($2.7 & only 2 years left) get you close. And then if they wanted McCants ($1.7 million) or Smith (barely $500k) included, that would get you up the salaries needed. Oh and draft picks. Throw one or two of those in there too- well of course not including the ones already owed to the Clippers and Celtics.

Are you morgaging the future? You betcha!! If you stand pat, they go out with a wimper. Trade for AI and give them anybody not KG, and suddenly the Wolves are interesting and relevant and are alive again. Bring on Allen Iverson!!!