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Googs Is Gone From Minnesota
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December 20, 1998
For Gugliotta and Timberwolves, the Party's Over
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By CHRIS BROUSSARD
TLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- For the past two years, fans
of the Minnesota Timberwolves could not help but
dream. They saw one of the league's best young point
guards playing with two All-Star forwards -- one in his
prime, the other with gigantic potential -- and
envisioned playoff run after playoff run, with at least
a few of them ending in championships.
But one of those players, Tom Gugliotta, did not share
that dream. It's not that Gugliotta was a prima donna,
interested only in individual statistics, or even a
hater of Minnesota who could not wait to leave the
cold. It's just that after a couple of tumultuous years
in the league, he realized the National Basketball
Association is a business, one that would most likely
rip apart the young nucleus of the Timberwolves.
As he spoke Friday at a news conference for "The Game
on Showtime" tonight, Gugliotta, one of the league's
most coveted free agents, all but confirmed that the
ripping had begun. While he did not say he would never
again wear a Timberwolves uniform, he did not say he
would wear one, either. or even that he wanted to. And
the 6-foot-10-inch forward showed little remorse when
asked about the probability of never again playing
beside point guard Stephon Marbury and small forward
Kevin Garnett.
"Because of what happened to me earlier in my career
with the trades, I don't feel as attached to one
particular team," said Gugliotta, who has been traded
from Washington to Golden State to Minnesota in his
six-year career. "Maybe that's unfortunate but that's
what my experience has been. I learned quickly that
this is a business and that you have to look out for
yourself."
Now that the lockout threatens to wipe out the entire
season, many are learning that the N.B.A. is a
business. Because Gugliotta already knew that, he never
counted on playing the rest of his career with Marbury
and Garnett. Of course, the trio could still end up
together, but that is as unlikely as the players and
owners settling their differences before Christmas Day.
The problem in Minnesota is that Marbury, Garnett and
Gugliotta are all big-money players. Under the old
collective bargaining agreement, Marbury would have
commanded well over $100 million for six years either
this summer or the next, and Gugliotta would probably
have signed a $70 million to $80 million contract. With
Garnett having signed his six-year, $126 million deal
two years ago, it will be hard for the Timberwolves to
keep all three players.
That is a shame, because Minnesota, which was terrible
during its first eight seasons in the league, deserves
a winner, and Marbury, Garnett and Gugliotta would have
been fun to watch. But as soon as Garnett signed his
deal, Gugliotta began thinking that his days in
Minnesota might be numbered.
"Kevin was fortunate," said Gugliotta, who averaged
20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds last season. "That's what
was available at the time that his contract came up. I
think a lot of players recognized that having the
high-end guys making as much money as they're making
would be a problem."
Gugliotta added that, contrary to the public's
presumption, the players have accepted that the
highest-paid players will not make as much money as
they used to, and that the union is fighting in
negotiations for the so-called middle class of players.
If he is correct, that may enable teams to hold on to
more than one or two stars.
"One of the things the players have been willing to
concede is the high-end player, so you're not going to
see any more contracts like Kevin Garnett's," Gugliotta
said. "So I think it's more feasible to keep a team
together now."
Still, Gugliotta did not sound hopeful about returning
to Minnesota. "I was happy there and I played for a
good team," he said. "But I'd like to see what my
options are before I make a decision. I'm not leaning
towards anywhere right now."
Gugliotta, who lives in Denver during the off season
and mentioned the possibility of signing with the
Nuggets, is one of almost 200 free agents in the
league. But he was the only one among the 16 players
who competed in tonight's game at the Boardwalk
Convention Center, meaning that he was the only player
who ran the risk of becoming a casualty of the lockout.
An injury such as the ruptured Achilles' tendon
suffered by the free agent Christian Laettner last
summer could have crushed Gugliotta's market value and
left him staring at a seven-digit contract offer rather
than an eight-digit one. But he came through his 20
minutes of playing time fine, scoring 13 points and
getting 7 rebounds.
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