Kevin Garnett's boss says Minnesota has no plans to move its best player.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said trade rumors involving Garnett may make for good Internet chat but are not based on reality.

"I can tell you, definitely, we are not trading KG," Taylor told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The Knicks are one of several teams that have been mentioned as possible trade partners with the Wolves. The Nets, Bulls, Lakers, Pistons, Pacers and Warriors also would have the resources to make a deal for Garnett, a perennial All-Star.

"I have no plans on trading him at least through this contact," Taylor said of Garnett, who is signed through the 2008-09 season. "I'd like to say through life. But I'll just say through this contract, because then there are things you can't always control."

Taylor said he is committed to building his team around Garnett. The theory behind the Knicks acquiring Garnett is that Isiah Thomas would be willing to take on the contracts of Wally Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson.

"I'm more likely to spend the money it takes to (get Garnett a championship) here," Taylor said.

According to Sports Illustrated's 'Truth And Rumor's section, the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that the Timberwolves may talk trade with the Utah Jazz, with the discussions focusing on Minnesota big man Michael Olowonkandi and either Troy Hudson or Marko Jaric, and disappointing Utah forward Carlos Boozer.

'Don't be surprised if the Timberwolves talk trade with the Jazz, with Michael Olowokandi going to Utah for Carlos Boozer, and with either Troy Hudson or Marko Jaric of the Wolves as part of a deal,' the piece states.

The move, if it ever comes to fruition, would indictate the Jazz are giving up on the oft injured Boozer, whose bloated contract runs through 09/10.  Olowonkandi would come off the books after this season while both Hudson and Jaric are signed to long term deals.

Rumors abound the Nets will make a run at Kevin Garnett after his public comments about displeasure with T'Wolves moves.

But sources both in New Jersey and Minnesota insist nothing would happen before the summer, if at all.

Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey met with Kevin Garnett on Friday morning in the wake of the all-star's criticism of team management during a TNT interview broadcast Thursday night.

In the interview, Garnett said vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale, who fired Flip Saunders, wanted to take over as coach last season but didn't want to accept the responsibility that came with the job ? managing players and their egos. Garnett also was critical of the handling of contract issues with veterans Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell before the 2004-05 season.

Casey, in his first season as coach, said Garnett's comments indicated his frustration with the way last season fell short of expectations. The Wolves failed to make the playoffs.

"It wasn't anything against the situation now is what he made clear," Casey said of his talk with Garnett. "It wasn't anything about his teammates now or what's happening now. I don't think it was a negative."

The dollar amounts have changed, but the rhetoric is still the same from the Latrell Sprewell camp a year after the shooting guard turned down a three-year, $21 million contract extension offer from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nearly a month into the season, Sprewell, who infamously explained his rejection of Minnesota's overture by saying he had "a family to feed," is unemployed and, according to his agent, willing to sit out the season rather than play for the NBA veteran's minimum of $1.1 million. "Anyone who thinks he should play for that, that's absurd," Sprewell's representative, Bob Gist, told SI.com this week. "He might as well retire."

"Latrell doesn't need the money that badly. To go from being offered $7 million to taking $1 million, that would be a slap in the face."

Gist said he considers the offer rejected last year a fair one. "The Timberwolves' offer was close to a [fair] valuation," he said. (Sprewell averaged 12.8 points and 2.2 assists in 80 games for the T'wolves in 2004-05.) "If you look at his stats, I think $7 million - $10 million [per year] is what veterans like him are commanding."

Three weeks into the season, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett criticized the team's key management decisions involving former coach Flip Saunders and veterans Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell.

During an interview with TNT taped a day before Thursday's 109-98 Timberwolves victory over the Washington Wizards at Target Center, a frustrated Garnett said the situations should have been handled better.

Sprewell wasn't re-signed during free agency, and Cassell was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in August. Saunders was fired in February.

Garnett also said vice president Kevin McHale, who took over as interim coach after firing Saunders in February, wanted to coach but not accept some of the responsibilities that came with that.

Garnett said those issues should have been handled differently, and if they had been, Saunders might still be coaching the team today. The All-Star did not say specifically how those issues should have been handled. Garnett said it all starts at the top of the organization and mentioned owner Glen Taylor as well.

Timberwolves point guard Marko Jaric was distressed when he learned that former NBA star Vlade Divac is facing a charge of evading the army's draft in their native country of Serbia-Montenegro.

The Associated Press reported that Divac, 37, was obliged by law to join compulsory six-month military service by age 35, the state prosecutors' office said Wednesday. Divac, who played 16 years in the NBA before retiring recently, could face a one-year prison sentence in Serbia-Montenegro if he does not join the army soon, legal experts told the Associated Press.

"I can expect anything from that government in that country," said Jaric, who is not sure whether he could face the same issue as Divac in the future. "They have no appreciation anymore for anybody. ? Vlade Divac is a legend over there. The guy is more popular than the president of the country.'"

Jaric, 27, signed a six-year contract with the Wolves this offseason. If bound by law to serve in the military, he would need to think about fulfilling the commitment not long after his Wolves contract ends.

Jaric said he thinks other factors might mean he would not have to serve in the military.

"I have two passports," Jaric said after Wednesday's practice. "I have a Greek nationality. I have a Greek and Yugoslavian passport. I'm in a different situation than Vlade. I don't know what's going to happen."

Frustrated forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili is still waiting to make his debut with the Timberwolves. He's been on the inactive list for all but one of the first six games.

His status is unlikely to change any time soon.

Tskitishvili is behind reserve forward Eddie Griffin on the depth chart. Coach Dwane Casey said he wants the 22-year-old from the Republic of Georgia to be patient. But Tskitishvili, the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, is running out of tolerance because this is his fourth year in the league.

Sunday night, he returned to Denver, his first NBA city, but was inactive. Tskitishvili voiced his frustration to the Denver Post, saying of Casey, "He told me so honestly that he was going to play me, that this is going to be my year."

That quote prompted Casey to talk with Tskitishvili on Monday morning.

"I never told him he was going to be handed the position," Casey said after practice. "I told him when he signed here, there was going to be an opportunity to play, and it was going to be up to him to take it."

Tskitishvili said the quote in the Denver paper incorrectly implied that Casey misled the forward. He said he was not upset with Casey or vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale and that he appreciates the opportunity they gave him to sign with the Wolves.

Tskitishvili signed a two-year contract, with the Wolves holding a team option for the second year of the deal. He said he still thinks the Wolves are a good fit.

"I don't blame nobody except myself," he said. "I don't want to say I don't work hard, because I have been busting my (behind). I'm just wondering why it's not coming yet. Every day I think, 'I work hard, I have the talent.' It's not coming right now. But I have big hopes that one day it will come. I think the best way to make it come is to play and get experience."

It took Timberwolves rookie Rashad McCants six NBA games to get ejected.

McCants, known for his questionable attitude and being enigmatic in college, had his best game offensively before being ejected in the fourth quarter Sunday night after picking up two technical fouls.

With 4 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game against the Denver Nuggets, McCants posted up Andre Miller, pivoted and dunked over Marcus Camby, who had rotated over to help on the play.

McCants shoved Camby in the back after the dunk, and the rookie was automatically ejected for his second technical of the game. Coach Dwane Casey said McCants' move was "clearly a taunt."

After the game, a 102-91 loss for the Wolves, McCants said he was not trying to show up Camby.

"When I dunked it, I came down and he had bumped into me and I was going forward and he was going out, and I just got a tech," McCants said. "There's nothing I can do about it, just keep playing and keep my mouth shut from here on out. ? I was just trying to show emotion to pump my team up. We were down. I was trying to give us a boost of energy."

Contrary to a report in a New York newspaper that Kevin Garnett had fired agent Andy Miller, Garnett said Friday that Miller still represents him. "Me and Andy Miller are closer than we have been in a long, long time," the Wolves forward said. "We've never had much separation. He's helped me become a better businessman.

"I have hired William Morris [agency] for some of my off-court stuff, my commercials, my endorsements. But, until you hear it from the horse's mouth, Andy Miller still is my agent."