Free-agency haul brings back memories of Kevin Garnett trade

When evaluating a franchise like the Timberwolves that has missed the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons, there are plenty of checkpoints along the way at which one can stop and say in retrospect, "That was a reason things haven't worked out."

So indulge me for trying to pinpoint the one critical moment of failure in a 13-year history filled with missteps. But here it is: the trade of Kevin Garnett in the summer of 2007 to the Celtics.

That's not to say the Wolves would have magically avoided their descent into awfulness had they held on to their superstar, who was 31 and coming down the other side of his career. But it was a seismic shift that signified a rebuilding process from which the Wolves have never fully emerged. As long as they had Garnett, they had a chance — if only they could properly build around him, which they had a brutally hard time doing for so much of his career.

The Wolves actually got seven pieces from Boston in that deal, but the three most significant ones were Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair and their own 2009 first-round pick, which they had traded to Boston a year earlier in the Wally Szczerbiak/Ricky Davis deal.

Jefferson was a promising but raw young player whose early career had been marred by injuries. Telfair was a 22-year-old point guard who arrived in the NBA with great expectations but had yet to deliver upon them. The draft pick ended up being the 2009 sixth overall pick (which the Wolves used on Jonny Flynn, but enough about that).

Jefferson blossomed into a very good player in Minnesota, but he was never destined to be a star. Telfair had a long but not very distinguished NBA career. Draft picks are always a crapshoot.

In money terms, if Garnett was a dollar bill, the Wolves in exchange received a bunch of loose change — useful, but not even close to adding up to the equivalent value of one player.

The Bulls received, in exchange, a Jefferson equivalent at a different position (Zach LaVine), their own Telfair (Kris Dunn, a point guard young enough to have promise but seasoned enough to have question marks) and the seduction of potential with the No. 7 pick. They got three quarters for a dollar, which sounds good in your piggy bank until it's time to buy something.

There are shades of difference, of course.

Garnett went to Boston, formed a "Big Three" with two other veterans in Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and immediately won a championship.

Butler arrives in Minnesota as the third member of a budding Big Three along with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Butler is the elder statesman of the group at 27, more than three full years younger than KG when he was traded.

The Timberwolves are not going to win a championship immediately because they are young and Golden State is lapping the field, but the short-term expectation has been elevated to breaking the playoff drought — particularly when combined with the Wolves' free-agent agreements over the weekend.