Flip Saunders: Garnett has 'given an indication he'd like to play another year'
The back half of the 2014-15 season was supposed to be a curtain call for soon-to-be 39-year-old power forward Kevin Garnett, whose contract is about to expire.
Garnett was traded in February back to the Minnesota Timberwolves - the team that drafted him out of high school in 1995 and employed him for the first 12 of his 20 NBA seasons - with a chance to bring his career full circle.
Surprisingly, reports emerged after the trade that the Timberwolves hoped to sign Garnett to an extension in the offseason. Even after a hobbled Garnett played just five games and 98 total minutes in his second go-round in the Twin Cities, they apparently haven't changed their minds.
While Garnett has yet to directly address his NBA future, Wolves president and head coach Flip Saunders is hinting at a return.
"He's given an indication he'd like to play another year. If he does, we hope it'd be here," Saunders told FOX Sports North's Phil Ervin.
"If he didn't want to play, I thought he would've played some games down the stretch. Where his leg was at and just the soreness, I believe he didn't want to take any chance, and the reason he didn't is because he indicated wants to get his body right. If he gets his body right, he wants to play. I think that's the avenue that he's trying to go towards."
Garnett showed in his brief return that he can still be a capable rotation big. In just under 20 minutes a game, he averaged 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds, shot 58.1 percent from the field and posted a 19.3 PER.
The question, it seems, is whether his body is still able to handle the rigors of NBA basketball.
"He's going to know early," Saunders said. "He's doing things right now to get ready to play. ... He's been in this league 20 years. He knows his body better than any doctor. He's not going to put his body in harm's way."
- With h/t to Ball Don't Lie