“We would have added Kevin Garnett to the young ‘We Believe’ Warriors”: Matt Barnes talks about the time when The Big Ticket almost joined the Bay Area team

Former NBA champion Matt Barnes reveals Kevin Garnett had kept Golden State Warriors as an option when he joined the Celtics

Matt Barnes played in the NBA for 14 years as a small forward. An impactful player who mostly came off the bench throughout his career, Barnes might have got most minutes in his time with the LA Clippers, but it was the Warriors who he’ll be remembered for the most.

Before winning the Championship in his last season in the NBA with the Dubs in 2017, Barnes had another stint with the Warriors back in 2006. The “We Believe” Warriors that season defeated throttled the heavy favorites Dallas Mavericks in the first round.

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After getting knocked out by the Utah Jazz in Western Conference Semi-finals, the Warriors went to the off-season being a possible destination in Timberwolves’ superstar Kevin Garnett’s head according to Matt Barnes.

Kevin Garnett could have been a Warrior

In addition to Matt Barnes, the Warriors team also had many more hustle players like Baron Davis, Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, and Al Harrington.

Adding Garnett’s 20 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with his lockdown defense, could have made “that team in Oakland” absolutely lethal. Matt Barnes talked about the time it happened on the Draymond Green Show.

“We were supposed to trade J-Rich [Jason Richardson] and our pick to get Kevin Garnett. We were supposed to get him that year, basically for Jason Richardson,” said Barnes.

Instead, the Warriors only got to add Chris Webber to their squad as Garnett chose the Celtics over them and the Lakers.

“So we would have added Kevin Garnett to that young team … He said his three teams were, he called it, ‘that team in Oakland,’ the Lakers, and the Celtics. He obviously ended up going with Celtics and winning a championship.”

While the Warriors team next season didn’t even qualify for the Playoffs next season, Garnett’s move to Boston led to the Celtics winning the title immediately in 2008.

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The Boston’s Big three of KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen suddenly came off as such a dominant force in the Eastern Conference, that they and the Lakers were looking likely to win every championship down the next 4-5 years.

That forced LeBron James to move out to East to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form another Big-3, which normalized the formation of superteams in the NBA for coming years.