Certain friends say that, from certain angles, New Jersey Nets president Rod Thorn looks as if he's aged three years in one.

Staffers from the Orlando Magic still speak bitterly about a smart-aleck newspaper poll taken seven years ago, as if that alone was responsible for driving away their super-sized superstar.

The traumas and institutional scars suffered by NBA teams that sweated out a franchise player's impending free agency soon could be the Timberwolves to bear if Kevin Garnett chooses not to sign a contract extension before next summer.

The Wolves already have made an offer to the All-Star forward through agent Andy Miller and, at one point this summer, the two parties were believed to be within $8 million; the team was said to be offering $92 million over five years, with Garnett's side seeking $100 million.

The gap seemed even smaller, too, when Wolves owner Glen Taylor, in an interview last week, said good-naturedly: "It won't be a matter of money. I'm probably going to overpay him anyway. He's my guy, and I'm going to take care of him."

Then again, the delay in finalizing veteran forward Gary Trent's one-year contract might relate to Miller's ability to deliver Garnett; Trent also is a Miller client.

Garnett and Miller will be in town Monday for a charity function at Minneapolis North High School, and the agent said he expected to talk with Kevin McHale, Wolves vice president of basketball operations.

"I'm not answering any questions about it," McHale said last week. "We don't have a deal."