Kobe Bryant Fans!

A player many Laker fans wanted, thought they would eventually get, and a player Kobe Bryant would have loved to have is apparantly headed to of all teams, but the Boston Celtics. Looks like McHale and Ainge are about the finalize a deal:

Garnett traded to Celtics
BY KEN BERGER
kenneth.berger@newsday.com

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July 30, 2007, 9:40 PM EDT
The Celtics are close to acquiring Kevin Garnett from the Timberwolves, ending the All-Star forward’s 12-year stay in Minnesota and making Boston a legitimate championship contender for the first time in 15 years.

Pending the outcome of discussions still ongoing Monday night, as well as eventual league approval and a possible contract extension for Garnett, the Timberwolves finally are ready to pull the trigger on a deal for their 31-year-old franchise player after months of shopping him.

A person with knowledge of the situation said that among those heading to Minnesota for Garnett would be Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff. It is believed that Minnesota also would receive a future first-round pick from the Celtics and take back the first-rounder they owe Boston from the Wally Szczerbiak trade.

A second person familiar with the situation said both sides were working on “finalizing” the deal Monday night. Another player would have to be involved to satisfy league salary guidelines, and Garnett likely would have to waive his 15 percent trade kicker to make the deal work. Garnett’s agent, Andy Miller, did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to 10 All-Star appearances, Garnett has made first-team all-defense six times and was the league MVP in 2003-04. But his time in Minnesota was marred by seven first-round playoff exits and only one trip to the conference finals, a 4-2 loss to the Lakers in 2004.

The Celtics have made the conference finals only once since 1992, the last time their Hall of Fame trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish played together. That the trade was being consummated by two former Celtics teammates, McHale and Danny Ainge, only added to the blockbuster.

If the deal goes through, it would mark the end of a process that began for the Timberwolves back in April, when Newsday first reported that Minnesota was ready to seriously consider offers for Garnett.

And it would signal a change of heart by Garnett, who indicated before the June draft that he didn’t want to play for the Celtics. According to one of the sources, All-Star guard Ray Allen played a major role in selling Garnett on Beantown.

“When Ray heard they were trying to get Kevin, he put the recruiting pitch on,” the person said. “Ray was all excited, and he excited Garnett.”

Minnesota and Boston discussed a draft-night deal for Garnett that would’ve sent Boston’s No. 5 overall pick to the Timberwolves, but it failed to materialize. The Celtics then sent the pick to Seattle as part of a trade for Allen, a seven-time All-Star who shares South Carolina ties with Garnett.

Golden State and the Lakers made serious inquiries, along with Phoenix, which around draft time was Garnett’s preferred destination. Adding Garnett to Allen and Paul Pierce is a coup for the Celtics, but it also figures to increase the likelihood that Kobe Bryant will step up his efforts to force his way out of Los Angeles, according to a source.

One more premier player getting traded, but not to the Lakers, means that “the Laker situation is only going to get worse,” the person with knowledge of the situation said. “I’m sure Kobe’s wondering, ‘Why can’t we do that? If Danny Ainge got it done, why can’t we?’ ”

With the options to appease him dwindling, the next step for Bryant will be to threaten a training camp holdout and follow through on it by failing to show up when the Lakers open camp Oct. 8 in Hawaii.

Barring any snags, the Celtics will be saying “Benvenuto, K.G.” when they open training camp Oct. 1 in Rome.

Source: Newsday

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