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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportationsSpeed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefireSpeed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
