I thought Bill Simmons idea made more sense for the T-Wolves: essentially Stoudemire and salary cap ballast Marcus Banks for Garnett, and a swap of Atlanta's pick for Minnesota's pick.
I'm sure the Suns would rather give up Marion than Stoudemire, but I don't think the T-Wolves would do a deal for Marion. We know it's going to take a lot for them to give up KG. Marion is essentially the ultimate complementary player. He could be the new Scottie Pippen; the ultimate second banana. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you, Pippen is a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer. However, you don't build a team around him, and that's the problem Minnesota would have with that deal. But Stoudemire you can build around.
Now, that said, if the T-Wolves were willing to take a package centered around Marion for KG, and I'm not putting anything past Kevin McHale, one of the five worst GMs in the NBA - Isiah Thomas, Billy King, Billy Knight and Jim Paxson are the others, in case you're curious, the Suns would be out of their minds not to do it.
(And yeah, I said Jim Paxson. if the ping-pong balls in the 2003 lottery bounce differently, he's running a pickup league at the Willoughby Hills YMCA. Seriously, after picking LeBron James, can anyone name his second best move? Was it giving an insane amount of money to Larry Hughes? Or bringing back Eric Snow, who has about 200,000 miles on his odometer? Or the legendary Ira Newble signing? Or burning a lottery pick on Luke Jackson? If the Cavs had a GM with more than a dozen functioning brain cells, LeBron would have a ring by now, instead of preparing for yet another exit at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. Even though I'm a Pistons fan, I think about these things because my best friend is a Cavs fan, and I've got an inexplicable soft spot for the city of Cleveland. And yet, I digress.)
KG can more or less play Duncan to a draw, and the rest of their team is better than the rest of the Spurs. Moreover, at this point, I think he'd sacrifice his left kidney, a lung and 15 years of his life for a ring. There's something to be said for that.
And it's not like KG would cramp the Suns running style; he's one of the most athletic 4s in the league. In fact, if they want their lightning-fast offense to run in fifth gear, you could argue that Stoudemire, not Marion, should be the one to go. KG, Marion, Bell, Nash and Barbosa starting, with Diaw and Joakim Noah (who they could probably still get at Minny's pick) coming off the bench? Forget basketball, that's a team that could run the 4 x 400 relay.
I think there's a pretty good chance that someone will make the T-Wolves an offer they can't refuse for KG this summer (in the good way, not the Michael and Vito Corleone way). And honestly, the Suns should be at the head of that pack; they're one of maybe five teams that have the goods to get it done. The Bulls should be in there, but won't, because we know they don't have the guts to pull it off (see: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzly). Maybe the Mavericks will be in there, too. Every so often, the Pistons get mentioned as a possible KG suitor, though I doubt that would happen.
