Garnett Not Talking With T-Wolves Despite $103 Million Offer, Player Won’t Speak To Team
One of the summer’s most perplexing unanswered questions - why Kevin Garnett turned down $103.5 million - is no closer to being answered.
There were, however, some details disclosed Thursday during the NBA meetings.
Minnesota general manager Kevin McHale, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and Garnett’s agent, Eric Fleisher, all described a tense stalemate since negotiations broke off in July. Each side also offered differing opinions on whether the standoff can be amicably settled.
“We’ve asked to sit down with Kevin and discuss this, but his agent gave us an unconditional no,” Taylor said. “We can keep waiting, but it’s in Kevin’s interest to do this now so he doesn’t have it following him around all season.”
The Timberwolves have until Oct. 1 to sign Garnett to an extension. After that, talks are forbidden until July 1 - the day Garnett would become a free agent.
Taylor and McHale both expressed extreme frustration at not being able to speak to Garnett, who is currently in South Carolina and has made no public comments this summer.
“We don’t want to negotiate with Kevin, and we don’t want to bring him into a room without his agent. We just want to sit down with him and discuss everything,” Taylor said. “This franchise is being built around him, and how he wants to deal with that - the leadership responsibilities that are involved - is all-important.”
The talks broke down after Taylor publicly announced that Fleisher had rejected the Wolves’ initial $103.5 million six-year offer. So upset was Fleisher by this perceived breach of confidence that he announced Garnett would never resign.
Fleisher, in a telephone interview, said Garnett’s position hasn’t softened. Asked if he expects negotiations to resume, he replied: “I tend to think probably not, given the fact that both positions are clear and there has been no dialogue.”
Taylor, who said he is “flexible’ on the amount of money available, says he made a conciliatory gesture one week ago by phoning Fleisher in Jamaica and speaking for 30 minutes.
“I suggested that we don’t wait until the last minute because this is not an easy contract. If we’re going to talk again, let’s do it. And if we’re not going to do it, let’s decide not to and say so.
“He didn’t respond either way, so I’m not sure what he’s thinking.”
A $103.5 million extension would make the 20-year-old Garnett, who will make $2.1 million in the 1997-98 season, one of the five highest-paid players in the league. If he chooses to become a free agent next summer, the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns would be the only teams with enough salary cap space available to offer him a similar deal. The Bulls, however, could sign Garnett only if Michael Jordan decided to retire.
Taylor said there’s been no discussion of possibly trading Garnett before Oct. 1 if the standoff continues.
McHale also said the Wolves would rather keep Garnett for the final year of his current three-year contract and then try to sign him.