The Joe Smith SCANDAL | How The Wolves BOTCHED The KG Era

The Minnesota Timberwolves entered the 1998 NBA offseason full of promise. With budding superstar Kevin Garnett and supporting star Stephon Marbury leading the way, the Wolves were coming off their first winning season in franchise history.
Looking to build on their momentum, Minnesota signed former No. 1 overall pick Joe Smith ahead of the lockout-shortened 1999 season.
It seemed as though Smith had sold himself short by agreeing to a small, one-year contract with the upstart Wolves. However, the truth was much shadier, and that seemingly team-friendly pact with Smith would end up costing Minnesota dearly.
Written & Narrated by: Joseph Casciaro (@JosephCasciaro | Twitter)
Produced & Edited by: Andrew Bartlett (@andrewnsb | Instagram)
Thumbnail Design by: Justin Shipley (@shipleysportstudio | Instagram)
Courtesy List: pastebin.com/ZTsK1NwK
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#kevingarnett #minnesotatimberwolves #nba

[@highdough2712]

I remember this very well, but had no idea how it came to light. Considering how often teams do this sort of thing without any consequences, it was unfair.

[@hustlecrowe9440]

The level of shear stupidity of NBA franchises in the 90s in unparalleled. The teams that had a superstar but refused to add additional stars - New York (Ewing), Toronto (Carter), Wolves (KG), Sacramento (Richmond), etc. Golden State blew up Run TMC. Charlotte didn't call Kobe's bluff about playing in LA or he'd go play in Italy, then refused to give Mourning a fair contract. Toronto trading McGrady for nothing, Portland basically doing the same with Jermaine O'Neal.

[@KingOfMonsters2K]

It's like a culture with this team,the Hornets,and the Pelicans when it comes to not knowing how to run a basketball team.

[@17thNO]

The Pelicans do a pretty decent job. It's just that agents, the league and the media want to funnel and poach star players to bigger markets and keep the smaller markets down. (CP3, Davis, Zion). You can't blame the organizations. Look at Portland with Dame and Milwaukee with Giannis. They have been trying to send them to Miami for years.

[@thedarkfrost2351]

The Pels know to run a team, just unlucky w lazy stars and injuries the past five years

[@17thNO]

​@@thedarkfrost2351Thank you. Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valenciunis and CJ McCollum are thriving. It's not my Pels fault that Zion decided to be lazy, eat everything in front him like PacMan, drink beau coup cold drinks, and smash all the hoes.

[@perditadurango9699]

@allankojokwahene1675 Houston was great only Yao Tmac injuries held ring.

[@markhenderson1177]

@@thedarkfrost2351same thing with wolves lol Ant McDaniels Naz KAT Gobert…

[@mrf19741]

I remember when this story first broke. I was laughing my ass off, saying, "Joe Smith? Really? Seriously?"😂😂😂

[@kylec.8350]

Garnett almost brought Boston 2 titles his injuries in 2009 ruined back to back championships and then losing in 2010 to the Lakers, but 2008 was magical!!!

[@richborn6700]

This hurts just to think about again. This one decision had a ripple effect in the franchise that still haunts the Wolves today. We got Anthony Edwards, and Lord help us we get it right with him and McDaniels.

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

The Wolves are just a poorly run franchise. 😭 - drafted two PGs ahead of Steph Curry - did not build around prime Kevin Love - traded Wiggins and Kuminga (draft pick) for D'lo - turned off Jimmy Butler from the team - traded 5 players and 4 draft picks for Rudy Gobert This Joe Smith deal did eventually lead to Garnett leaving but everything else since then was just poor Timberwolves management.

[@Shortballa11]

@@thebasketballhistorian3291 Kevin Love wasnt good enough to built around. Wiggins and Kuminga also arent good enough to be built around Them rebuilding and getting Ant was the best thing they could do. Everything else here is facts tho

[@cerebralfanatic]

Curry was not trying to come to Minnesota anyway lol. Probably would've played his way out asap

[@silewis9396]

​@@cerebralfanaticFacts. People assume he was going to play for Minnesota when he purposely didnt work out for them and tried to get to NY

[@wolfgooner2321]

The worst thing about this is not the fact that they got caught, but because they did it for Joe Smith. Just imagine if they still got caught, but it was for a better player, even though they couldn't draft anyone at least they already have two all-star calibre player. Heck that player doesn't even need to be that good, just imagine if they had done the deal with Sam Cassell (I know Sam has one all-star appearance but that was in the 03-04 season with the Wolves, so prior to that he wasn't really thought of as an all-star calibre player), the Wolves would have had a younger Sam to be paired with KG. Yes the team would still not be good enough to win it all, but I imagined they'd have at least gotten past the first round at least once.

[@BooBooDaFoo330]

Cassell was always an all star caliber player, just never played on the right teams for his talent to get recognized

[@tbprofile1295]

Joe Smith turned down 80+ MIL which was huge at that time, still made good money in his career but unfortunately still went broke - it was publicized a few years back.

[@rexarthur26]

Can't believe Wolves went through all that trouble given that Joe Smith was nilot that good of a player...

[@PIP...33]

IF U RE-DRAFT 1995, JOE IS 20 PICK AT BEST, GARNETT NUMBER 1, RASHEED AND STACKHOUSE TOP 3.

[@rexarthur26]

@@PIP...33 yup and dont forget about Damon Stoudamire and McDyess...

[@PIP...33]

@@rexarthur26 top 5 both

[@FreeRKeIy]

Pretty bad draft class

[@sh91rky91]

Super nice content

[@garrettclardy943]

Minnesota can’t ever get it right. 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

[@freezedatakeover]

That team with cassel & Sprewell was nice

[@freezedatakeover]

Why did he turn down 80 million 😮 who was his agent ??

[@vahioslim3003]

Went to Maury High School with Joe Smith, Norfolk Va class of 93'! Salute

[@kincamell]

Heavy. "I Made It Ma, Top of The World" - KG

[@skyMcWeeds]

NBA severely needs David Stern's stern handling of things (sorry for the pun, God rest his soul) Adam Silver is just too damn soft

[@davidpayumo23]

Stern a legend and Silver just panders to the players and owners.

[@krysram8033]

Silver is an asshowl

[@sublime90]

yeah silver would have fined the team $50 and moved on

[@chadzard4]

Yeah crippling the prime of an all time great for something that most teams do was so awesome!

[@ceufrscio707]

You blew it - adam

[@PickpocketJones]

Joe Smith was so stupidly efficient in college.

[@michaelrodriguez7380]

they really did ruin such promise with KG's tenure.

[@BookJay35]

One of the first basketball players to truly drop the bag not once but twice you'd think someone would have learned that the first time around

[@TyTimeIsAwesome]

It also fucking sucked that right after the Wolves signed KG to the biggest deal in NBA history, the goddamn strike happened and the CBA was restructured so that there would now be a harsher soft cap- essentially tying Minnesota's hand to ever signing any big time FA. Just a string of bad luck and decisions. As it stands now, right after the Wolves signed KAT to the super max as well, the CBA was redone so pretty sure they're gonna have to trade him soon since they can't afford to retain all their young talent.

[@wolfgooner2321]

Yea now that you mentioned it, this KAT situation that we have right now is exactly the same as it was with KG. Not to mention the fact that KAT is not as good as KG, which makes it worse. Lucky we have Ant whereas during KG era we didn't have another star.

[@TyTimeIsAwesome]

@@wolfgooner2321 We did have Marbury, but he was jealous of Big Ticket and wanted to be the man of his own team...

[@wolfgooner2321]

@@TyTimeIsAwesome yea but in hindsight he was never that good. Not to mention we traded Ray Allen for him.

[@TyTimeIsAwesome]

@@wolfgooner2321 Really? I love Marbury's game. He averaged around 19 ppg and nearly 9 apg for us before getting traded. Amazing facilitar and could score at will when needed. He was the perfect PG for Garnett. I mean, I'd rather have just kept Ray Allen too, but I think if Marbury stays, we win at least 1 title.

[@johndebono1870]

@@TyTimeIsAwesome Win a title is a bit of a stretch, but Minnesota at least gets out of the first round with if they keep one of Marbury, Allen, or Billups.

[@deonlepharaoh]

I remember all this and KG was a champ for sticking with the wolves till the very end of his prime....he definitely should have jumped ship at 26 or 27

[@jkh2180]

McHale was right. And honestly I'm not sure other teams are smarter per se. I think the NBA just picks and chooses when they want to punish it. Gordon Hayward was in collusion with Celtics staff a full year before signing with Boston in 2017. Boston wasn't punished. Just one example. Happens ALL of the time. Constantly.

[@TheMick126]

Could you do a story on the top players(nba,nfl,mlb nhl nascar soccer) that had more to gain but lost it on a bad decision ( you said smith made 61 mil but could have had 80 mil) a story like that

[@JustGettinStarted]

I always thought he never lived up to being drafted #1

[@anon2414]

I would never make a pact or verbal agreement...the team does not have to follow through with it

[@philliprhinehardt6268]

It looked like Minnesota was making bad moves.

[@fliplife67]

Let’s be real nobody wanted to play in Minnesota.

[@briankleinschmidt3664]

Botched? They should change the team name to "Botched". I remember McHale getting into trouble, but I never paid attention to why.

[@jordanflores5687]

Wow Kg's place just got bumped up

[@mcerrone964]

I played with Joe Smith many times at PA Park in Virginia beach

[@dcarr2506]

Joe looking like NORE in the thumbnail.

[@davidpayumo23]

Like that cameo of an ex-Rap coach.

[@JD-iu6rv]

So is this similar to what’s going on with James Harden and the 76ers right now?

[@justhere8745]

Smith was the real loser here. He lost 50 million

[@perrymorgan6092]

Sucks that smith got finessed. The wolves should have had to pay him that money

[@nunyabizznizz7326]

if you cheat, atleast to do it with a difference makers.......he was a 43% shooting center, avg'd like 8 rebounds

[@acnicodemus4734]

Joe Smith is a bust.

[@gregharper6382]

1:19 Bruh I thought you said “all of 5 contest” not “all But” lmao I was like why tf would they want that man and he played 5 games in 3 years🤣🤣

[@JoeCash89]

😂

[@nbapbaupdate8338]

Timberwolves WORST ORGANIZATION NBA history 😂😅😂😅

[@seankelly4594]

All that for joe smith is crazy

[@mauricejones2076]

I still don’t understand this??? So he signed small deals so the team can fit the cap in a later deal he’ll get a big deal for taking one for the team with the small deals he took, can someone explain this

[@MrLp1980]

The nba union investigated that. Unions jobs will never let you help management. He was worth way more than that. It would have hurt future nba players in the future if they let owners get away with that. It’s all about power between union and managers. The nba owners also didn’t like it because he would have kept the wolves under the salary cap. Joe Smith took the deal because after 3 years you get the bird rights where you can sign a bigger contract. The t wolves owner and general manager should have known that was going to send red flags and an investigation was going to happen. I work in union job and was taught to never help management and never take a job that under pay.

[@safaaosman476]

He is so good in 2k

[@JSWang-ii8kd]

Did those people orchestrating this under-the-table deal suffer any consequences?

[@threatassessment606]

DUE-dee E-bee

[@matsalvatore9074]

How kg botched the kg era

[@versuch8239]

Minnesota and KG had an almost impossible task anyway with Dunkan, Dirk and the Lakers to get past.

[@joeyvonmost527]

Lmaooooooo

[@dobianuli2742]

$61m is not lose lose. He did great.

[@voxextremos22]

Glenn Taylor and Kevin Mchale were awful worse than Danny Kahn

[@lorenzodawkins7500]

Twolves worst franchise in the NBA

[@Travdust]

Meanwhile Lebron can have his own shadow company and have his stooge Rich Paul talk to any player in the league and negotiate whatever deals.. smart.

[@Cballer9823]

Tough lol

[@nbapbaupdate8338]

Kristaps Porzingis trade on Boston your next video theScore 🙏🙏🙏

[@bsharp1981]

I don’t see anything wrong with this type of deal. Smith was the one taking the risk every year. I always thought they were paying him extra under the table that’s wrong

[@jessekittrell2946]

Lebron haters diss him for leaving the team that drafted him acter fullfilling MULTIPLE contracts & the team not doing its job yet give KG a pass 🤦🏼‍♂️😂

[@spotdollars]

Impeach Biden

[@SiyabongaMokoena-nh8fp]

Same idiots here will tell a super star to not leave their teams when the front office doesn’t help them to get talent I don’t blame bron and kg for going to chase chips some of these nba teams are extremely incompetent trust me as an Orlando fan I know 🥲

[@17thNO]

They need to just have 6 teams in 6 cities so they can just AAU it, make them all play on one year deals prove it deals every year, you can't be traded from and if they load manage and don't play well in the prior year it will be musical chairs and they would have to hustle. I wouldn't watch that shit, but that would solve the problem. If my city New Orleans and other great cities like mine didn't have a team then I wouldn't watch that shit. If these clowns are so spoiled that they can play ball, make millions and only have to work there at most 7 months a year then why would I support them?

[@17thNO]

No Shaq wanted to rap and do movies in LA, McGrady is an underachieving, stat merchant that was more concern about be "the man", Grant Hill had bad luck with injuries, Dwight Howard is an idiot and apparently loved being punked by Kobe more than winning. The Magic has been to 2 NBA Finals since 95 and has had some good ass teams. There are many teams that has been to none. Golden State hadn't been doing much (Run TMC, We Believe) and no NBA finals going since Rick Barry and Jaamal Wilkes in 1975, till Steph, Klay and Dray got there. People forget so quick. How were the Celtics after Bird McHale and Parish till KG and Allen got there? Sometimes teams have good fortune and things work out. The Warriors were about to traded Steph to Milwaukee but the trade was descended due to Steph's ankles so the settled for Monta Ellis. I guess that was "the great Warriors organization" that did that right? Please FOH. Sometimes teams get lucky or unlucky. If Oden, Brandon Roy hadn't got injured and been able to play with Aldridge and Dame they would've been dominating shit. But that how it go sometimes.

[@SiyabongaMokoena-nh8fp]

@@17thNO then please explain to me why for the past 8 years my Orlando magic have done nothing isn’t that due to terrible front office decisions we suck they drafted mo bamba and hezonja

[@PIP...33]

@@SiyabongaMokoena-nh8fp KG WAS far too late !! ADMIRAL DUNCAN MANU, SHAQ RICE KOBE, DIRK FINLEY NASH !! Superteams because of them KG revenge with Boston. Garnett was 33 old. Dont compare him with wagon LeBronze because KG never went for free it cost Boston 7 players to trade KG. Meanwhile James left for free Cavs got nothing in return and he was barely 26 prime age not 33 pass prime injured like Kevin.

[@PIP...33]

@@17thNO STEPH DID NOTHING IT WAS IGUODALA DEFENSE AND NUMBER 1 PICK BOGUT WHO PUSHES GSW OVER EDGE. CURRY CANY CARRY TEAM OR WIN WITHOUT DEFENSE OR SCREENS.

[@AnimeBronx]

I love the way y’all dummies just look to blame the front office whenever a star poster doesn’t win a championship. Maybe, just maybe, the player just wasn’t good enough?

[@901Chris]

Isn’t it the front office’s jobs to surround that star player with talent or no? One man can’t win by himself this is a team sport