Garnett trade improves NBA

Coming from a diehard Timberwolves fan, this one hurts to write.

While watching an NBA game the other day, I was shocked to find a legitimately competitive game between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.

It's not even close to the All-Star Game yet and I actually saw Carmelo Anthony breaking a sweat by the third quarter. I usually spend the first few months of the season wondering which players are showing up stoned to games.

Instead, I saw the Nuggets going all out while they poured it on against the Heat. Even when they were up by 30, I still saw everyone running hard up and down the court and setting hard screens. Ricky Davis might have been mailing it in, but it's not like Timberwolves fans haven't seen that before.

This is actually part of a growing trend in the NBA. Games in December actually feel like they have meaning to them and players are giving fans a reason to watch.

So why does this hurt from the perspective of a Timberwolves fan? Because this trend of hard play was precipitated in part by Kevin Garnett getting traded to the Boston Celtics.

From the very moment he stepped foot in Boston, Garnett transformed that franchise. Suddenly, Ray Allen's feeling like he's five years younger and Paul Pierce wants to stay in Boston because he has teammates he likes to play with for once.

Garnett has always been known for his intensity while playing in Minnesota, but he never had teammates who played hard with him.

The three superstars had the good fortune to find one another at similar points in their careers. All three were coming off playing for perpetually mediocre franchises and all three were at a point where their individual stats were no longer important to them. All they care about is winning.

Consequently, the first month of the Celtics' season has been a joy to watch from the perspective of a basketball fan.

All three go hard while they're on the court, and their competitive demeanor is rubbing off on their lesser-known teammates, creating an NBA power that currently sits atop the standings at 14-2.

This in turn is rubbing off onto the rest of the NBA. Other teams are trying to keep up with the Celtics, and this has resulted in several teams sprinting to the top of the standings.

Phoenix, Orlando, Detroit and San Antonio are all also on pace to win 60 or more games this season, after only two teams won that many games last season.

Of course, the flipside of this is that there are a bunch of atrocious teams who are either too young or too crippled by the salary cap to be competitive. Sadly, our beloved Timberwolves fall under this category.

It is still early in the season, but it's easy to see that the Timberwolves are every bit as bad as their 2-14 record indicates. Marko Jaric gets playing time and, aside from Al Jefferson, nobody provides any consistency on offense.

The Timberwolves have a chance to be historically bad, and that would normally be upsetting for me. However, I find myself looking on the bright side of the situation.

We're almost certainly getting a top five draft pick next year, and basketball fans can look forward to watching a competitive NBA Finals for the first time since Michael Jordan left the Bulls.

This is a vast improvement from the NBA scenery I witnessed a year ago. The Timberwolves were stuck in a perpetual state of mediocrity and KG's contract was limiting their ability to bring in talent.

On top of that, the most competitive playoff series was between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns. . . in the second round.

And if that wasn't enough, the NBA as a league got dragged through the mud publicity-wise when the Tim Donaghy scandal tainted the league's referees.

I'm in no way forgiving Kevin McHale for tanking the Timberwolves. If there was a petition going to get him fired, I would be one of the first to sign it.

However, Minnesota sports fans can take solace in the fact that his bone-headed moves helped improve the league. The Timberwolves may stink, but at least the NBA is fun to watch again.