After briefly contemplating retirement, Kevin Garnett decided to return to Boston for a 3 year $34 million contract. Despite his advanced age, Garnett remains an elite defender, and averaged close to a 20-10 in the playoffs for the Boston Celtics. The contract will see him receive an average of $11.3 million a year until age 39, when he will likely retire.
Terms have not been disclosed or reported yet, so it is unclear as of right now if the third year will be fully guaranteed. If Garnett can maintain anything close to last season’s form however, $11.3 mill a year is just about right for a defender of his caliber, especially when you consider all his off-court contributions in terms of locker-room leadership and mentoring young players.
With Garnett locked down, the Celtics have now laid out their plan for this offseason: bring back the current core and try and retool around them to make another run. They have Rajon Rondo locked down on a favourable deal, and will have probably around $10 million in cap space to work with once they bring everyone back and sign their rookies. With a few smart acquisitions around their core last year to add some much-needed depth, the Celtics could very well be right back near the top of the Eastern Conference again next year, especially with Derrick Rose likely out for most of the year.
