A lot of people will tell you out of their sentimental hearts that they should trade Garnett so that he can play for a contender and have an opportunity for a ring. For some reason, according to these fans, they owe it to him.

These people seem to forget that professional athletes are paid exorbitant amounts of money to play for teams, terrible or otherwise.

Teams don’t owe these athletes anything, unless they forgot to pay one of their paychecks.

From a purely business decision, though, they have to consider four things.

1) Almost all of these trades of a superstar go badly for the team trading him away. Practically every “curse” in the history of sports is attributed to trading away a superstar.

2) At the end of next season, Kevin Garnett MIGHT consider going to a contender rather than taking the “big money” that Minnesota can continue to offer him. The Timberwolves have paid him enough over the years that he might have a tidy little sum stashed away to allow him to live on a mere $6 million per year for two years (the mid-level exception).

3) Kevin Garnett, despite his age, continues to play at a very high level. The perception around the league is that he might not taper off as most players do a la John Stockton and Karl Malone. For that reason, his value is still very high.

4) They aren’t going to be a championship caliber team for at least 5 years unless they do trade him, and by then Garnett won’t be helping them to win a championship anyway, at least not in a major role. And it’s hard to see them being able to pick up another major talent, since they have tried many times in the past, and the best they have managed to get is Latrell Sprewell.

With that background, we come to the question Should the Timberwolves really by trying to trade Kevin Garnett?

Despite the “curse” that will almost certainly fall on them, I think they have to. And I think other teams in the league know that they have to and are trying to take advantage of that.

The Lakers are hoping that Andrew Bynum and a draft pick are enough. They are enough, not to match his value, but to make a better trade than the Vince Carter to New Jersey trade a few years back. I’m not really sold on Bynum, like most of the rest of the league seems to be. Show me some consistency. Then I’ll give you the love.

The Celtics offered something similar (with a better draft pick), but rumors had it that Garnett didn’t want to stay in Boston. And the Celtics weren’t foolish enough to trade away young talent and a good draft pick for one year of Garnett. I can’t say that the Celtics young talent is that proven either. They were one of the WORST teams in the league, for crying out loud. Danny Ainge is sold. I’m not.

Phoenix is rumored to be trying to trade for him as well, and they certainly have some good role players that they could trade. Minnesota isn’t interested in role players for Garnett. Minnesota’s asking price of Amare Stoudemire is viewed as too high by Phoenix. I don’t know that it is TOO high, but I’m not so sure that Phoenix would be any better with Garnett than they are currently with Stoudemire. It seems like about the same look to me. And Stoudemire is much younger. Trading Marion for Garnett makes the Suns much taller, but that doesn’t benefit the Timberwolves any because Marion and Garnett are about the same age.

Are there any other top-tier teams that SHOULD be getting in the mix?

I think Dallas should be trying. Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger. I’d trade away Josh Howard and any other player not named Dirk Nowitzki. (The poison pill on Josh Howard makes a trade difficult, but not impossible.) You don’t really want to mess up the chemistry of such a good team TOO much, but I think Garnett could be a blessing to Dallas that Josh Howard won’t be. Would Minnesota take Howard? He is an All-Star, but he doesn’t have the flashiness of Garnett. I think he’s more proven than Bynum, though, and in my thoughts, that makes him better.

Chicago should just stand pat. They’re just about there.

Detroit should concentrate on Chauncey first. Then stand pat. They don’t have anything to trade anyway.

Miami doesn’t have anybody young besides Dwyane Wade, and they certainly aren’t going to trade him.

Utah is trying to stay young. Would they consider trading Okur and Kirilenko straight up for Kevin Garnett? They might if they thought they could keep him after next season. After all, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, and Kevin Garnett would be a force to be reckoned with. I don’t know that Garnett would stay, though.

Cleveland? I don’t know that the Cavaliers have anything to trade that Minnesota would want (aside from Lebron James), but I think they ought to try. Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Damon Jones, and the young Daniel Gibson match Kevin Garnett’s salary, for this year at least. Add Kevin Garnett to the mix to take some of the pressure off of James and who knows what Cleveland might do. They did make it to the NBA Finals, after all.

Houston? McGrady’s back isn’t going to hold out much longer, in my opinion. The Rockets could certainly use a man of Garnett’s talent to play along side Yao and McGrady, but I can’t see Minnesota wanting any of Houston’s other players. They’ve got some good role-players to be certain, but the worst “curses” throughout sports history involved trading a superstar for role-players, because “that was the best trade they could get”. Houston would certainly want this trade, but I can’t see how it would ever benefit Minnesota.