Minnesota Timberwolves buy out Kevin Garnett, setting stage for retirement

(Image credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

The Minnesota Timberwolves reached an agreement Friday with veteran forward Kevin Garnett to buy out the remaining year of his contract, league sources told the Star Tribune. Garnett signed a two-year, $16.5 million contract in February 2015 to reunite with his old coach Flip Saunders in hopes of reinvigorating the team, but after Saunders died unexpectedly of cancer that October, Garnett's expected role with the team changed.

Garnett was drafted fifth overall by the Timberwolves in 1995 and became the best player in Timberwolves franchise history, leading the team to eight straight playoff appearances from 1997 to 2005. After being traded to the Boston Celtics in 2007, he won his only championship with them in 2008. He returned to Minnesota after a brief turn with the Brooklyn Nets, hoping to reunite with Saunders — who coached him during his first stint with the team — and bring a championship to Minnesota. But Garnett was only able to appear in 43 games as his second run with the Timberwolves was limited by injury, though he was able to be a veteran mentor to the team's prized 2015 draft pick, center Karl-Anthony Towns.

The buyout sets the stage for Garnett, who turned 40 in May, to retire after 21 seasons in the NBA; he'll join fellow legends Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in hanging up his high-tops after the 2015-2016 season. He played 970 of his 1,462 career games in Minnesota, tallying 19,201 points and 10,718 rebounds in the Timberwolves uniform.