NBA Rumors: If the Minnesota Timberwolves get to a point where they’re willing to trade Karl-Anthony Towns, they could have some trouble doing so.
Through the first couple of weeks of the NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the biggest surprises in the Western Conference. While it may be a bit premature to crown them the potential feelgood story of the season, their 7-2 start to the year has to be considered encouraging for a team that was looking to take a step forward.
Even though the Wolves as a team appear to be on the rise, Karl-Anthony Towns’ start to the season has to be at the very least somewhat concerning. As one of the more polarizing players in the league, KAT’s status around the league has clearly begun to tank. And not just in terms of preception.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst doesn’t believe KAT has much of a trade value at the moment. He went on to say that he doesn’t know if he’d even return draft picks. If that is the case, that’s not a great sign for the Wolves. Even if they don’t have many plans to trade KAT right now, this can’t be great for the team’s future with or without KAT.
Karl-Anthony Towns has struggled mightily this season
KAT has been playing a bit better of late but is still on pace to have the worst season of his career. Through the first eight games of the season, KAT is averaging 19 points and nine rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Even though the Wolves have gotten off to a 7-2 start, KAT’s performance so far this season can’t be encouraging.
While it’s nothing to overreact about too much, it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on. KAT has a huge contract and if the Wolves ever want to move off of it, they’re going to need to find a tradable KAT market. Right now, that doesn’t appear to be the case. For a player that’s still just 27 years old, that’s quite disturbing.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Wolves season continues to unwind. And if their success continues and transforms into a trend and whether there’s any correlation tied to KAT and his individual production. And perhaps more importantly, if there’s any genuine desire for both sides to move on from each other. And if so, to what extent?