Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves is the 2006  recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The award is named for the second commissioner of the league and honors an NBA player or coach for outstanding service and dedication to the community.

"I am honored to be a recipient of the prestigious J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award," Garnett said. "I am happy that I can help make a difference in the communities, and blessed to be in the position where I am able to lend support. Hopefully, this will encourage others to do the same. I would like to thank the NBA, Professional Basketball Writers Association and those who nominated me for this award."

A source told Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press that Marcus Banks will seek a five-year $29 million contract, but settle for $17 million over four years.

Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale, who hopes to re-sign free-agent point guard Marcus Banks: "I'd like to kidnap him, but I'm not sure I can do that."

Banks became a key part of the Wolves rotation after coming over in a trade from Boston.

According to New York Daily News writer Frank Isola, the Knicks may have a taker for 'Starbury' after all.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Wednesday that his team is interested in acquiring Stephon Marbury, whom Minnesota drafted 10 years ago and traded to the Nets in 1999. However, Taylor admitted that Marbury's contract - he'll earn $60 million over the next three seasons - is a major stumbling block.

"Yeah, it isn't that we couldn't use somebody like that. We certainly could with his experience, and we know him," Taylor told the newspaper. "It's that he was signed at a salary that's going to cause us problems. So it would be difficult, it would have to be one of those things where New York would have to say that they really want to get rid of the player and could help us in some financial way to do it. We wouldn't know until this summer if that would even be a possibility."

According to several team sources, Isiah Thomas is committed to trading Marbury, whose skills have diminished while his reputation as a malcontent has grown appreciably.

However, Marbury's trade value never has been lower; he is showing signs of breaking down and he is a point guard who makes his teammate bitter, not better.

Kevin McHale had a press conference on Thursday afternoon and took the blame for the Wolves disappointing season.

"It was a very frustrating year, a very bad year for us," McHale said in a rare press conference. "I'm in charge of the basketball department, so everything that happens is on me. The bad year was my fault. ... The buck stops with me. There's absolutely no excuses for anything. I wish we had a lot better year and we didn't.

"I've already talked to Glen," McHale said. "I'm coming back. Glen and I had a talk a couple weeks ago and he said, 'What do you think?' I said, 'I'm very disappointed with this year' and I said, 'Glen this is not the way that I want to leave the Timberwolves, after a 33-win season.' It's not the way I want to leave this team in this spot."

"Oh, by the way, Kevin Garnett's staying here," McHale said definitively. "He's under contract, he wants to be here, he wants this thing to work. ... He wants to make it work."

The Wolves' final game of the 2005-2006 season wasn't taken too seriously by the club, as head coach Dwane Casey gave Mark Madsen the green light to shoot from 3-point land.

Madsen took a career-high 15 shots, making just one of them.

"The guys were having fun with it," Casey said. "For what we've been through this season, I thought the guys deserved it. I hope what we did didn't make a mockery of the game."

With the 102-92 loss to Memphis, the Wolves are no assured of keeping their first round draft choice.

"There's been so much doom and gloom around here," Casey said. "There is a rainbow at the end of the storm."

The Timberwolves' roster will change this summer, but coach Dwane Casey told the St. Paul Pioneer Press he expects a few moves, not a major reconstruction.

"Most likely, we're going to have a lot of the same guys back, most of the same guys back," Casey said on the eve of the season finale against Memphis at Target Center. "That's the reality of it."

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that Fred Hoiberg has retired from the NBA and will join the team's front office staff. Hoiberg's title is undetermined to date, however he will have duties and responsibilities relating to both the Timberwolves' basketball department and business operations. The 33-year-old underwent successful heart surgery on June 28, 2005 to correct an enlarged aortic root and did not play during the 2005-06 campaign.

"All of you are aware of the journey I've taken this past year and I just want to relay to all of the people that sent along their prayers and well wishes, my heartfelt thanks," Hoiberg said. "It was truly overwhelming to me and my family the outpouring that we received from the Twin Cities community and from across the Midwest.

"It is a difficult decision for any athlete to make, but after the rehabbing, consulting with physicians and most importantly talking with my family, I have come to the conclusion to retire from basketball. Every player feels as though they could play a few more years, however I don't feel like that's the best course of action for me and my family."

So far, coach Dwane Casey has been silent on the subject of whether Kevin Garnett will appear in another game. Speculation is that Casey is waiting to talk to Garnett to gauge the situation.

Garnett has been bothered by right knee tendonitis, but it isn't believed to be serious enough to keep him out of games.

Sacramento Kings swingman Ron Artest underwent an MRI examination on his right thumb Thursday.

The MRI revealed an aggravation to the ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb.

He is going to wear protective padding on the thumb.