Garnett Trade Held Up?

If the Lakers are trying to get Kobe Bryant to change his mind about leaving, they’re off to a good start.

The Los Angeles Times cited league sources on Monday saying that the Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves are in discussions that could bring Kevin Garnett to Los Angeles.

Trade discussions initially involved the Lakers, Wolves, Pacers and a fourth team, and sources told ESPN that that team was the Celtics. They would have gotten Jermaine O’Neal from the Pacers and sent young players to the Wolves. The Lakers would have gotten Garnett, while the Pacers would have landed Los Angeles forward Lamar Odom and center Andrew Bynum. Minnesota would also have acquired at least one of the teams’ draft picks, possibly Boston’s No. 5 in Thursday’s draft.

Later on Monday, the Times reported that the deal in that form had fallen apart because the Celtics did not like their end of the deal. According to the newspaper, the Lakers and Timberwolves continued discussions, trying to broker a deal just between the two teams.

Sources told the Times, however, that Wolves general manager Kevin McHale is not thrilled with the idea of getting Odom and Bynum, even if they come with the Lakers’ 19th pick.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press contacted Pacers CEO and president Donnie Walsh and he denied any knowledge of the trade talks.

“I haven’t heard of any of this,” Walsh told the paper.

According to the Times, Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Wolves owner Glen Taylor spoke on the phone for about 20 minutes on Friday. Buss then suggested that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak and McHale carry on the discussions on Monday.

ESPN’s Jim Gray reports that Garnett and Bryant “have been in touch” since reports surfaced that the Lakers were trying to obtain Garnett from the Timberwolves.

Source

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