The Minnesota Timberwolves Have Two of the Worst Starters in the NBA in Kevin Garnett & Tayshaun Prince
Kevin Garnett is off to a really, really bad start to the season. Garnett, 39 years old and playing in his 21st NBA season, is somehow worse than he was in his two previous post-Boston seasons that saw him average 6 points and 6 rebounds on 40-something-percent shooting in 20 minutes a night with the Nets. Garnett was considered one of the worst starting players in the NBA in 2013!
Meanwhile, second-year power forward Adreian Payne has seen his minutes disappear at the expense of Kevin Garnett’s farewell tour. Payne is 24 years old and was just drafted in the first round of the draft last year. Last season, he played 24 minutes a night after he was traded from Atlanta to Minnesota. This year, Payne’s down to 8 minutes a night.
Payne’s per-36 stats put him at 19.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks, and 2.1 assists. And he’s shooting 60% from the field. Kevin Garnett’s per-36 numbers? 4.6 points and 10.3 rebounds on 27% shooting. Why exactly is Kevin Garnett stepping on the floor? In case someone takes a shot after the whistle early in the half?
You know what’s worse? Garnett might not even be the worst starter on the Timberwolves. In addition to Garnett, the Timberwolves are also starting 35-year-old Tayshaun Prince who is shooting 22%. Would you believe Prince was also on the list of the worst starters in 2013?
Prince’s per-36 numbers are 3.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists. That’s per 36 minutes. Prince has started all four games for Minnesota this season and has yet to reach double-digit TOTALS in any statistical category. If he hits his season average in his next game, he’ll have 10 total points.
You don’t think 22-year-old Shabazz Muhammed could shoot that poorly with an extra 10 minutes a night? What are the Timberwolves doing? Is this organization trying to tell people that there isn’t a single warm body over 6’6″ with less than 30,000 minutes logged in their careers who Minnesota couldn’t trot out there for 20 minutes a night who could manage that to make one out of every three shots?
Don’t tell me fans are showing up to the Target Center every night to see Garnett and Prince stumble up and down the court for a few minutes when the team has Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, and Ricky Rubio playing every night.
Maybe Minnesota can’t make the playoffs with their young guys taking an increased role, but if they do with Garnett and Prince in the lineup, it won’t be because of them. If you want them around to teach the young kids, that’s fine, but they should be coaching, not playing. Why are the Timberwolves treating every game like Senior Night where bad players get to start, take some bad shots and then never touch the floor again as a nice gesture towards the fact that they’ve simply been around for a while?
The NBA era which Kevin Garnett inhabited is over. There are some remnants – Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan – who haven’t fallen off a cliff yet, but we are seeing it in a much more public setting in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant. Hopefully, Dirk and Duncan are paying attention. It’s time for the Timberwolves – and the NBA – to move on.