Karl Anthony-Towns‘ time with the Minnesota Timberwolves might be nearing its end. Over the years, KAT has been steadily improving his form yet it has never impacted the franchise positively. He was the former No.1 overall pick in the 2015 draft and Towns has had quite a successful individual career with them. However, league sources revealed that the Wolves will let go of him shortly.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report claimed that the Wolves may part ways with Karl. He also added, “Other competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. Some even believe Minnesota would jump at an opportunity in the next few weeks.” During the 2022 off-season, Minnesota acquired former Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert in a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz.
Here’s the full(er) context:
“Other competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.Some even believe Minnesota would jump at an opportunity in the next few weeks”https://t.co/m1eh7d35qF https://t.co/LUazr9R9ra
— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) June 9, 2023
This was done in an attempt to help Karl Anthony-Towns and their most recent No.1 overall pick, Anthony Edwards. They felt that the addition of a third star would give them better chances of winning the title.
While Gobert and Edwards worked relentlessly to get the Wolves to the playoffs, KAT suffered from a calf injury that sidelined him for a good amount of time. He played only 29 games in total and missed a large stretch of games between December and March.
The Minnesota Timberwolves intend on rebuilding around Anthony Edwards rather than Karl Anthony-Town
While Karl Anthony-Towns contributes himself as a great scoring center, his stats have not been too impactful for the Wolves. Last season, he averaged 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. He made it just in time for the playoffs as the Minnesota Timberwolves survived the play-in tournament to battle it out against the Denver Nuggets. The former Rookie of the Year averaged only 18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds.
Ultimately, the Minnesota Timberwolves were defeated by the Nuggets. For the reason stated above, KAT could be traded away to bring someone more versatile to pair alongside Edwards and Gobert. Karl will be entering the final of his existing five-year deal of $158.2 million. He signed a contract extension back in July 2022 which will keep him around until 2028, if the Wolves choose to retain him.
KAT. IMPOSSIBLE!!! pic.twitter.com/BL9ENwBvCS
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 9, 2021
The extension is worth $224 million which means the Wolves owe him approximately $250 million over the next five years. However, paying 50 million on average to KAT will be tough to manage as they are over the salary cap. It would be sensible for them to trade him to retain their other superstars with ease.