Offseason Therapy: Happy Birthday, Kevin Garnett

On May 19, 1976, the one and only Kevin Maurice Garnett entered the world. Today, he turns 40 years old and retains an NBA contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The occasion of the big man's birthday provides a nice little opportunity to both reminisce on the old times and contemplate his (and the Timberwolves') future.

If you haven't done so in a while, take five minutes or so today to look over Garnett's page on Basketball Reference. It will probably take longer than that because of the sheer volume of statistics he has accumulated over his TWENTY-ONE NBA seasons, from the 80 games in his rookie season in 1995-96 to the mere 556 minutes he racked up last season in 38 starts. The length of the "Appearances on Leaderboards, Awards and Honors" section is also pretty ridiculous.

Entering 2016-17, Garnett is at one of the final decisions of his long career. He has a contract for $8 million to play however much he can next season, and at this point, there have been no indications that he will do anything but that. The question lies with how much he will be able to contribute, and what role he will fill on a team that has already stated its playoff aspirations for next season.

Garnett and Tom Thibodeau are obviously well acquainted from their shared time and titles in Boston, and one would not think they would have trouble working together, regardless of Garnett's love of Sam Mitchell. However, will Thibodeau want KG to come off the bench in a more supportive role, rather than Mitchell's use of KG to start and finish games early in the season before he called it quits (his last appearance was January 23)? And if so, who starts at the 4? Will Nemanja Bjelica be ready to step up? Will the Gorgui Dieng/Karl-Anthony Towns twin tower approach continue?

This also leads rather nicely into the conversation of the Wolves newly-confirmed draft pick for this season. With the common names around the fifth slot including Jamal Murray (a guard), Kris Dunn (same) and Buddy Hield (you guessed it), if the Wolves plan to improve their power forward depth, they will either need to take a selection in the draft that would feel like a reach (Henry Ellenson comes to mind), or consider making a trade or an offer in free agency to improve that depth.

The draft is a long way off yet, and there will be much consideration of what the Wolves should or should not do with the fifth pick. My initial thought is that while some of the talent that will be available at 5 is attractive and holds some potential, the Wolves should be very open to trade possibilites that improve their depth at either shooting guard (yes, that Jimmy Butler dream would be quite nice) or power forward, and teams that want to pick a potential franchise cornerstone guard in Dunn, Murray or Hield will be calling.

All that aside, I hope that we get at least a few more moments of Kevin Garnett before he rides into the sunset, and I hope that the Wolves can give him one more playoff appearance to go out on. Hopefully one more moment like this one too. Happy Thursday, and happy birthday, KG.