At What Point Do the Timberwolves Trade Karl-Anthony Towns?

NBAMatthew Ortiz

Franchise players will always be hard to come by in the NBA. It’s one thing to find a player that a coach can consistently run their offense through or simply rely on in clutch situations for a season or two, but it’s another thing to find a leader for your franchise; the guy who’s willing to commit contractually long-term and become a pillar for an organization. Of those franchise players, the “needles in the haystack” come in the form of big-men.

There are only a handful of NBA players above 6’10” that are franchise players in this league. The undisputed members of said group are Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic. These generational talents mean absolutely everything for the functioning of their respective teams. From there, you have elite big men who are fringe franchise players. That list includes Rudy Gobert, Bam Adebayo, Nikola Vucevic, and no one other than: Karl-Anthony Towns.

KAT is in his 6th year in the league, all of which with the Minnesota Timberwolves. To add to his already great season averages of 24.9 PPG, 11.1 RPG, and 4.5 APG, he’s also having one of the most efficient shooting seasons by a big man in NBA history. Towns is averaging a 49.2 FG%, 38.9 3P%, and 87.7% from the free throw line; nearly putting him in the elite ’50-40-90 club’ shared by just eight players in NBA history. However, despite these incredible season stat lines for the New Jersey native, that doesn’t reflect whatsoever in the team’s record on the season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves currently have the worst record in the NBA, sitting at 13-40.

The Wolves have seemed to be in a franchise rebuilding stage for the past 15 seasons. In fact, ever since Kevin Garnett’s departure in 2007, Minnesota has had just one season with a win-loss above .500, and only three seasons above .400 in those fourteen years. KAT was drafted by the team in 2015 following an abysmal 16-66 campaign, which earned them the 1st pick in the NBA draft.

Karl-Anthony Towns has proven himself to be one of the best big men this league has to offer, but he’s clearly getting nowhere with Minnesota for yet another season. Fans may hold onto the 2017-2018 season that got them to the 8th seed, but one could easily argue that was an outlier season with Tim Thibodeau coaching a temporarily Jimmy Butler-led squad. The Timberwolves are in yet another season with a Win/Loss percentage below .300.

So I ask the hard question: At what point do the Timberwolves move on and trade Karl-Anthony Towns?

Elite big men on an NBA squad are an invaluable asset for any organization. However, every team front office needs to be able to recognize when a situation simply isn’t working. The Magic did that amidst this past NBA trade deadline.

On March 25th, the Orlando Magic made a radical move as they essentially imploded their roster. After more than seven years with their core squad, the Magic traded fan-favorite Aaron Gordon to the Nuggets, offensive spark Evan Fournier to the Celtics, and most importantly, their newly crowned All-Star center Nikola Vucevic to the Bulls. In return, the Magic received a mixed bag of young talent and draft picks.

Why would they get rid of their cornerstone center in Vucevic? Because they recognized the situation that their franchise was in, and they decided to move on. Despite making the playoffs two of the last three seasons, the franchise knew that they weren’t going to make it further than a 1st round exit with their existing squad. They tried for over half a decade, but given their 15-29 record at the time of the trade deadline, they finally waived their white flag. They traded their contractual obligations and are beginning a new chapter in their franchise.

What the Magic did with their team is what the Timberwolves can do this offseason with Karl-Anthony Towns if they so pleased. KAT is a fantastic player, but their squad clearly just isn’t working. After a 19-45 record last season that landed them another 1st overall pick to select Anthony Edwards, as well as the full integration of new addition D’Angelo Russell, and the return of Ricky Rubio, the Timberwolves are just as bad, if not, worse than last year. It would only be right for KAT to be moved to a competing team for plenty of assets, considering these prime years of his career are likely numbered.

All anyone needs to do is simply look around the landscape of the NBA to see that a guy like Karl Anthony Towns’ prime years are likely limited. Blake Griffin, though still a serviceable player today, is a shell of the high flying forward that he once was before 30 years old. Al Horford’s play style has become obsolete since his last All-Star year in Boston three seasons ago. Al Jefferson went from an elite post-option, to a bench player, to going overseas to play in China, all after he reached the age of 30 years old. Joakim Noah went from a defensive player of the year to a bench warmer before he even turned 30.

My point in listing these once extremely talented players is to show that the half-life of players at the center position seems to be reached around the age of 30. Sure, there are outliers in guys like LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol, but should Minnesota be willing to bet on that type of longevity at a high level? With Karl-Anthony Towns currently at 25 years old, there’s no telling how many more years the Timberwolves will have such a gifted talent in him. Now is the time when an organization has to either commit or quit with a player like him at this point in his career.

Minnesota can do like the Nuggets or 76ers in surrounding their superstar with guys to win now, throw in the towel like the Magic just did at the deadline, or end up in a situation like the Pelicans in 2019 where their superstar is forcing their way out of the consistently losing team. The choice is up to the Timberwolves.

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