Does Kevin Garnett Make Sense in San Antonio? - Bleacher Report

Buck Harvey's column for the San Antonio Express-News entitled "Duncan and Garnettâ€"together at last?" was firmly rooted in the hypothetical realm, but the mere possibility of such a pairing has been enough to incite some discussion on the subject.

Garnett and Duncan both rank among the greatest to ever play the game, and though neither has wholly managed to avoid the twilight of their respective careers, they've done well to evolve as players while maintaining much of what made them great.

And, it just so happensâ€"hypothetical or notâ€"Duncan and Garnett have the potential to be an outrageously effective tandem on a Spurs team that needs some stability among its bigs. Should he choose to cash in, Garnett would be far removed from San Antonio's price range.

But in the case that he would be willing to concede some financial incentive in order to play for a first-class organization and a potential contender (and that Garnett's signing would get the Duncan seal of approval), this has the makings of a perfect fit. 

Watching Garnett and Duncan co-defend a pick-and-roll would be marvelous in itself, but also seeing how they would work off of one another in the high-low game would be tremendous. These are two bigs who understand high-post passing on a level that escapes 97 percent of their positional equivalents.

The Spurs aren't exactly in need of another big man who can reset or reverse the offense, but Garnett would oblige, regardless; Gregg Popovich would have more savvy between his bigs than he would feasibly know what to do with. That said, would you rather trust any coach with such a glut of riches than Pop?

In terms of skill set, the parallels in the games of Garnett and Duncan have long been evident. But unlike many star players, Duncan has always been the type who could make a killing working alongside a mirror image version of himself.

Plus, if anything, at this stage in their careers, Garnett can make up for some of what Duncan has lost as a defender, while Duncan, with help from Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, naturally, can compensate for what Garnett has lost on the offensive end. It really is a perfect marriage, with the only asterisk being the fact that the two are reportedly on pretty miserable terms.

Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated dove into that subject (among many, many others) in his brilliant profile on Duncan back in May:

In fact, Duncan hates Kevin Garnett. Hates him the way liberals hate Sean Hannity. This information comes from very reliable sources, who talk about how KG has made a career of trying to punk Duncan, baiting him and slapping him and whispering really weird smack into his ear. They talk about how funny this is, because the worst thing you can do as an opponent is piss off Duncan. Then, as Malik Rose says, "he f------ destroys you." Duncan's lifetime numbers versus Garnett's teams, by the way: 20.02 points per game, 12.15 boards and a 29-19 record, including the postseason.

Duncan is diplomatic about the topic. Asked if perhaps all those years battling Garnett have softened his feelings for the man, led to a Magic-Larry type of kinship, Duncan leans back on the couch in his hotel room and grins. There is a pause. A longer pause. Finally he says, "Define kinship."

Ballard's account doesn't exactly give the rosiest impression of Duncan and Garnett's relationship, but considering what we know of the personalities of both players, I'd be interested to see if they (and by "they," I largely mean Duncan) would sidestep any ill will for competition's sake; the Spurs won't have all that many options in free agency this summer, and Garnett likely won't have too many avenues to reasonably hop on with a contender.

There's still much to be determined on the free-agent market, but this could very well be the best that it gets for both parties, and it'd be a shame if that potential were squandered because of some of Garnett's in-game blathering. 

But until free agency rolls around, we're merely left to wonder what could become of two long-time rivals, should the stars align to land them both in San Antonio.