How long has garnett been with the celtics

It is believed the deal also calls for the Celtics to ship youngsters Gerald Green , Sebastian Telfair and Ryan Gomes to Minnesota, along with a future first-round draft pick and the return of a first-rounder the Wolves surrendered in the Wally Szczerbiak - Ricky Davis trade in January The clincher, though, was Garnett's willingness to back off his well-chronicled refusal to play in Boston.

Garnett's unwillingness to make a long-term commitment to the Celtics abruptly took this deal off the table in June, but McHale and his Boston counterpart, ex-teammate Danny Ainge, managed to resuscitate the trade and quickly move it to the brink of completion.

But word began to spread Monday night that the Celtics had cleared those hurdles with Garnett and secured the long-term reassurance they are seeking from the time All-Star. Had the original trade gone through, Boston potentially would have been parting with blossoming Jefferson for a one-year Garnett rental.

But Garnett now is said to be amenable to the move, after the fiercely loyal year-old learned how far along the Wolves had been in negotiations with Boston in June and with the Celtics responding to the breakdown of its initial pursuit by trading the fifth overall pick in the draft to Seattle for All-Star shooting guard Ray Allen. The Celtics would be expected to contend for an NBA Finals berth right away if the trade goes through, no matter what they put around that trio, after Cleveland advanced to the Finals in June without even a clear-cut second star next to LeBron James.

To get Garnett now would be an even bigger coup for the Celtics, given that they have added Allen and they no longer can include the No. McHale has a long-standing fondness for Jefferson, and sources indicate he has been angling for some time to retrieve the first-round pick Minnesota sent to Boston in the Szczerbiak deal. But Minnesota also badly wanted that No. Garnett has said for years that he does not want to leave his beloved "Sota," as he calls it, consistently refusing to push for a trade even with the Wolves missing the playoffs each of the past three seasons.

But Boston's cause might have been helped by the increasing possibility that Garnett's only options are becoming a Celtic or returning to Minnesota after being shopped so vigorously.

His reasons, according to sources: Garnett would prefer to play in a warm-weather city on a team with championship potential if he's forced to relocate. Another big factor: Garnett and Steve Nash have become good friends over the past few years, starting in when Garnett was one of the first players in the league to call Nash and congratulate him on his first MVP trophy.

Dallas also expressed serious interest despite its inability to realistically join the chase until after July 1, when the Mavericks again could manufacture at least one cap-friendly contract to offer the Wolves.

The Suns, though, apparently have dropped out of the bidding, unable to make a deal work financially and unwilling to part with Amare Stoudemire. Golden State's chances, meanwhile, took a hit when a potential three-team Garnett trade involving the Charlotte Bobcats collapsed on draft night, with the Warriors deciding they couldn't wait on a maybe and proceeding instead with the trade of Jason Richardson to the Bobcats.

Sources nonetheless insist that McHale has had the Celtics at the top of his list from the start, mainly because of his fondness for Jefferson and Minnesota's natural desire to move Garnett out of its conference.

But some teams believe McHale's comfort in negotiating with Ainge, and corresponding reluctance to deal with other teams, was another key factor. The Wolves made the determination near the end of the playoffs that -- for the first time -- they would seriously entertain the prospect of trading Garnett according to team sources, with Garnett being informed of that change in philosophy directly by owner Glen Taylor.

Paul Pioneer Press that Garnett's "preference was that we not trade him. Garnett rejected the initial move to Boston even though it would have put him in the easier-to-conquer East and even though he is friendly with Pierce. But he was undeniably stung by the near trade, sources said, which only increased his growing frustration with McHale and Taylor and left him bracing for a trade ever since.

After the trade was announced the team enjoyed its most profitable day of ticket sales in years. That evening, at Garnett's introductory press conference, the turnout was reminiscent of the day Bird announced his retirement 15 years earlier; the potential heirs to the original Big Three of Bird, McHale and Robert Parish had finally been found.

Boston is banking on the two trades turning into the most triumphant off-season makeover since the Lakers' in That summer L. Yet obvious questions will require months, maybe years, to answer. For instance, Are the new Big Three too old to win a championship? That's a fair concern because no NBA team has ever won a title with its top three scorers all in their 30s. Ainge contends that their style of play and body types will enable Allen, 32, Garnett, 31, and Pierce, 30, to remain productive for the lengths of their contracts.

Still, the Celtics will be trying to break new ground with old legs. But in another way the three Boston elders have never felt younger. Eager to step up their learning curve, they met throughout September for daily workouts at the Celtics' practice facility.

They will not be easing their way into November, especially with their arena almost guaranteed to be sold-out all season. Fred Hoiberg, who played with Garnett in Minnesota. I think they're the favorites to win the East. After the Celtics gave up all those players, what about their depth? Ainge filled out the bench by signing veteran free agents Eddie House, Scot Pollard and James Posey to short-term, short-money contracts.

Once the Celtics acquired Garnett, all three found Boston a more desirable destination and were willing to sign deals favorable to the team. Those contracts pushed Boston into luxury-tax territory, but the owners spend little time worrying about the enormous investment they've made. It's about the Celtics on the court winning the championship and off the court leading the league in community relations and community work.

Other issues will be harder to quantify. Will Rivers prove able to coach defense as well as he oversees the offensive end of the court? Will year-old Rondo and year-old center Kendrick Perkins develop into capable starters for a championship contender? Most important, will Allen, Garnett and Pierce be capable of dialing back their customary roles to flourish as a unit? There's no room for three [stars] unless at least one of them says, 'I don't care. Some of these answers won't arrive until the looming heat of May and June, months when the old Boston Garden used to steam up and Auerbach was said to have glued the windows shut in the visitors' locker room.

But the best sign of how far the Celtics have already come is that Pierce can see things from management's view. They took their time, sat back, evaluated everything for a few years and then it was the right time.

They made the move. This is the most excited I've been about playing a season. I know this type of opportunity doesn't come around for a lot of players. We've got to make the most of it. In the meantime Ainge will keep returning to the best memory he has of his extended efforts to restore the Celtics tradition. Though the T-shirt may indicate he had dreams of playing in Ann Arbor, he instead chose to enter the NBA straight out of high school.

Garnett poses outside of Farragut Career Academy. KG played for Mauldin High in South Carolina for his first three seasons but transferred to Farragut before his senior year. Garnett was named Mr. Basketball for Illinois after averaging 25 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 blocks his senior season at Farragut. Garnett and his Farragut Academy coach, William Nelson, arrive at a news conference to announce Garnett's intention of skipping college to jump directly to the NBA. Andrew D.

Garnett was joined the next year by Stephon Marbury and the two were expected to be the future of the organization. After leading Minnesota to the playoffs in and , Marbury was traded to New Jersey after a dispute with management. In , high school star Darius Miles skipped college for the NBA and immediately drew comparisons to Garnett for their style of play.

Those comparisons proved to be incorrect as Miles played nine injury-plagued seasons and is now out of the league. After years of first-round playoff exits, Garnett was joined by Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell for the season. A day after being traded to the Celtics, Kevin Garnett reconnected with his old Minnesota buddy David Ortiz after throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

Garnett poses with his wife, Brandi. The couple married in , which forced KG to miss a chance to defend the gold medal in Athens. A time All-Star, Garnett finally won his first and only championship in with the Boston Celtics. Garnett and his Celtics teammates meet President George W. Bush after winning the NBA Championship. Three more years and three more deep playoff runs including a narrow loss to the Lakers in a classic finals matchup later, Garnett's impact on the Celtics franchise has been set in stone.

But it doesn't stop there. Sometimes a legacy can be changed as much by someone's effect on another player as their own greatness. In Garnett's case, his legacy will forever be tied to that of a certain Miami -based monarch. Who stunned the MVP and his win title-favorite in ? It doesn't end there. When James jumped ship for Miami a move many blame on his inability to beat Boston alone , the Celtics became his arch nemesis.

Every game between the two teams became appointment television, and much of the narrative during his initial Miami season was that a "quitter" like LeBron could never beat a team of winners like the Celtics. And when LeBron finally made the leap from quitter to champion? It happened in a legendary Game 6 against, you guessed it, Boston.

Boston has been involved in more legendary NBA moments over the past five years than anyone, and all of it is because of Kevin Garnett's presence. He put the Celtics on the map in a way the Timberwolves can only dream of. Legacy is a tricky thing. It's not necessarily about how good a player was, but how much they meant to a specific era.