Fans gobbled up tickets for Friday night's Wolves game against the Suns in anticipation that Kevin Garnett — for whom Minnesota traded on Thursday — would be making his return in that game. There were a few low grumbles from the masses when they found out he was, in fact, not going to play until Wednesday's game against Washington at Target Center.

Mostly, though, there was genuine excitement Friday … and a lot of fans wearing rumpled KG jerseys. A couple of fans said they bought Garnett jerseys at thrift stores recently; another said he dug his old childhood KG jersey out of a box in his parents' basement. It used to be way too big; now it's a perfect fit.

Whether KG is a perfect fit back with the Wolves remains to be seen. The hope and goal on the Wolves' part is that Garnett will mentor the bevy of young players on the team while also providing a measure of defense and toughness to a team that often has lacked both. We were never blown away by Thad Young — the player the Wolves traded for Garnett — and we consider, skill-for-skill, the deal to be about a wash even though Garnett is 12 years older and at the tail end of his career. For what the Wolves need right now on the court, Garnett is a better fit.

That said, there are some who worry that 1) this is nothing more than a nostalgia tour and 2) that his presence in the locker room will be too much for the young players if they can't accept his brand of tough love.

We're going to give this the benefit of the doubt. If Garnett can play 20 minutes a night — ideally divided up roughly as 7 minutes at the start of the game, another 7 minutes at the start of the second half and the final 6 minutes of the game — while hitting the right notes in the locker room, this will have been a worthy move. We don't even mind the idea of an extended Garnett reunion tour beyond this season.

And if it fails? At least it's fun.