Kevin McHale discussed the KG trade in an interview on Sporting News Radio:
"There was a contract extension coming up … I had talked to [Garnett's] agent and I said ‘hey man, you guys are looking for some big money, you better talk to our owner on it.’ I called up our owner and said this is kind of where everything’s at. It just got to the point where our owner came back and said ‘I’m not sure I can spend that amount of money — we’re going to make a trade.’ At that point, it’s just try to get the best deal. I really liked Al Jefferson — I always have. I think you’re looking at trying to get the best, young player you can in that situation. It was really just trying to find the best, young player available to get a good, young nucleus and go from there.
"Financially-wise, small markets, it can get tough in the NBA. Rebuilding in the NBA is tough because I think people expect immediate success. I don’t know if it’s how the kids are taught the game today, if it’s AAU, if it’s more games than practice, or maybe it’s just the fact that guys are coming out younger, and younger, and younger. When I came out, after two or three years, you were expected to really be a leader on your team — you were expected to help your team win games. [Young players] are so ill-equipped to become leaders these days because they don’t spend much time in school and they’re not counted on by their coaches to be leaders.”
In the end, he really didn't do that badly with the trade. Al Jefferson has been great, and Ryan Gomes is decent. Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green and Theo Ratliff are all gone, but at least the T-Wolves are in postition to rebuild, at the very least.
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