Thaddeus Young hopped off the plane at MSP and immediately noticed the outside temperature.
A guy that spent 48 games in Minnesota earlier this season before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets a little more than a month ago, Young had experienced the brutal weather Minnesota had to offer.
Now with Young back in the Twin Cities for a game against the Wolves on Monday night and the high is 63 degrees.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Young still recalls the day the trade went through.
“It was hectic,” he said. “I had to go home and pack up the whole condo in one day. I’m just thankful I had my wife here to help. She packed the whole thing up … and we got on the road.”
Young has since found a nice landing spot in Brooklyn. He’s played 12 games with the Nets this season and is averaging 13.7 points per game in those contests.
“He’s played well since he’s been here,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “He has good instincts so he’s been able to play well for us. Though he doesn’t know all the calls and the schemes, basketball is basketball.”
Young said he viewed Minnesota as a home and said he appreciated the support he got in his brief stint with the Wolves.
“I wish it could have been a little bit better as far as the start to the season,” Young said. “I felt like I started to come into my own right before the All Star Break. It was a short time spent here. … I felt like the situation worked out well for both teams.”
‘I LOVE KG’
Kevin Garnett spent 96 games with the Brooklyn Nets. So it’ll be a reunion of sorts when he steps on the floor on Monday night at Target Center.
Garnett was dealt to Minnesota a little more than a month ago in exchange for Thaddeus Young. In his short time with his new (and old) team Garnett has done wonders in changing the culture of the locker room.
That’s something that doesn’t surprise Nets coach Lionel Hollins.
“I love KG,” Hollins said. “I think KG is one of the great players that’s ever played in this league and one of the most intense people I know and one of the most discipline people I know. He’s been in the league for 20 years and he’s still coming to the gym at 8:30 in the morning. … That takes a lot of discipline.”
A guy that’s always been viewed as the heart and soul of every team he’s been a part of, Hollins said the team has been a little quieter since Garnett left.
“He brought a lot of stuff to our team and his leadership and his intensity has been sorely missed,” he said. “I’m glad I had the honor to be able to coach him.