King: Garnett preparing to play next year

THE PAST AND THE FUTURE AND THE *croaks*
AP
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE AND THE *croaks*
AP

Is Kevin Garnett coming back for one more season? It sure looks like it.

Garnett hasn’t spoken to the media since before the end of the second round of the playoffs, when the team lost in five games to the Miami Heat, even skipping out on post-season availability.

But Nets general manager Billy King confirmed that he’d spoken with Garnett directly, and that they’d talked about next year.

“We’ve had conversations (about him playing next season),” King said Wednesday.

King wouldn’t confirm that the 7-foot center has definitively said he’ll come back, but he’s operating under the assumption that Garnett will return. “I think he’s preparing earlier this year than he did last summer,” he added.

The 38-year-old Garnett hasn’t given any indication that he’ll retire, but there’s been the possibility he would hang it up after nineteen professional seasons. Garnett spoke with management immediately after the team’s playoff loss, and King said he told Garnett to take all the time he needed to make a decision.

The future Hall of Famer has one year remaining on his contract, worth $12 million. He averaged 6.6 points and 6.5 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game this season, missing 28 games with various injuries and rest time.