What Are Knicks' Chances of Landing Kobe or Garnett?

This portends to be one of the most active summers in NBA history, and already it's off to a flying start. After years of saying Kevin Garnett is off the market, the Minnesota Timberwolves have apparently made their star forward available.

Reports have linked Minnesota to discussions with the Boston Celtics involving a deal for Garnett. Garnett's agent poured cold water on the speculation yesterday by saying Garnett didn't want go to Boston — a threat to be taken seriously, since he can opt out of his contract after one season — so scratch the Celtics from the list of potential destinations.

Nonetheless, the big story is that Garnett is in play, and that's good news for Knicks fans on two fronts. First, there's the possibility that New York could get in on the bidding. The Knicks probably can't match the quality of some other offers — Boston, for instance, essentially had offered three young studs and an expiring contract — but when dealing with as big a buffoon as Timberwolves team president Kevin McHale, it never hurts to ask.

One has to wonder if New York could put together a package along the lines of Jamal Crawford, Steve Francis, David Lee, Channing Frye, the No. 23 pick in the draft, and next year's first-round pick for Garnett and the dead-weight contract of either Troy Hudson or Marko Jaric. That would enable the T'wolves to build around Lee, Frye, and the two draft picks, and if that wasn't enough perhaps the Knicks could throw in Randolph Morris as well.

Realistically, that offer and others like it would probably fall short. But there's another angle here for the 'Bockers, which is that Garnett could provide them with a backdoor to getting Kobe Bryant.

If Bryant remains insistent on his current trade demands, and the Lakers relent and make him available — which they have no obligation to do — then Garnett's presence on the trade market makes things interesting.

Consider that Bryant's list of potentially acceptable destinations had only three names on it — Chicago, Phoenix, and New York. Consider further that the Lakers would sooner have Kobe hold out on them for two years until he becomes a free agent than trade him to a division rival like the Suns and watch him beat them senseless four times a year.

So for the moment, that leaves Chicago and New York (though I remain convinced that he could be prodded into accepting a deal to another large Eastern city such as Philadelphia, Washington, or Detroit).

Now here's where things get interesting with Garnett. He is a Chicago guy and the Bulls have long maintained an interest in him — in fact some feel that's one of the reasons they wouldn't pull the trigger on Pau Gasol this spring, because they were still waiting to see if Garnett came available.

So it's easy to imagine the Bulls winning the bidding for Garnett's services — especially now that Boston seems out of the running. Certainly Chicago has the pieces to offer. The Bulls can ante up with the rapidly improving small forward Luol Deng, and sweeten the pot with high-scoring guard Ben Gordon. They'd have to include a signed-and-traded P.J. Brown or Andres Nocioni to get the contracts to match, as well as an endof-the-bench guy or two (Viktor Khryapa, please pick up the white courtesy phone), but the numbers can work.

If Chicago makes the deal for Garnett, that pretty much takes them out of the running for Kobe — they just wouldn't have enough assets left. And if Chicago is out of the picture, and Phoenix is beyond consideration, that just leaves one team left on Kobe's list — the Knicks.

As with a potential Garnett deal, the Knicks would have to fork out a whole bunch of lesser players in the hopes that L.A. would pull the trigger. Again, it might not be enough unless the Lakers are being totally irrational — Crawford, Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins, at least one and probably two draft picks, and a dead-weight contract such as Jerome James's. But it at least provides a glimmer of hope.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, we're left to ponder the ongoing Garnett situation, and that's where the bad news comes in for Knicks fans. As our Martin Johnson noted yesterday, the other four teams in the Atlantic Division are likely to be better than they were a year ago, and that's particularly the case in the now-unlikely event that Garnett winds up in Beantown.

Moreover, that's not his only potential destination. Toronto, for instance, might get the T'wolves' attention if it were willing to dangle last year's top overall pick, Andrea Bargnani, along with guard Jose Calderon, the expiring contracts of center Rasho Nesterovic and forward Kris Humphries (both of whom have Minnesota roots), and a draft pick or two.

Plus, even if he doesn't go to the Atlantic Division, Garnett is likely headed somewhere East. Much as with the Kobe situation, his team has no desire to watch him come into their arena multiple times every season and remind everyone how awful it was that they had to trade him.

Several other teams could potentially pull something together. Detroit could package Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and its two first-round picks next week. Milwaukee could send it's no. 6 overall pick with promising forward Charlie Villanueva, a future no. 1, and a dead-weight contract or two (the Bucks, incidentally, could also use their considerable cap room to broker a deal with a third team). Indiana, with several promising young players and a few large contracts that could be helpful in putting a deal together, is another potential landing spot.

So don't let this glimmer of hope blind you to the mostly stark landscape before you. The Knicks probably aren't going to come away with either Garnett or Bryant, because the big picture remains unchanged — they just don't have the kind of promising young talents that clubs like the Celtics and Bulls, not to mention several other teams, can put into a deal. But the fact that both players might be available at the same time, and that Garnett might take one of the few realistic Bryant suitors out of play, at least provides a morsel of encouragement heading into the summer.

jhollinger@nysun.com