Early Impressions of Karl-Anthony Towns at 2015 NBA Summer League

Drawing significant conclusions from NBA Summer League is always dangerous, but Karl-Anthony Towns has already shown why the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him with the first pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

Towns' greatest asset has always been his versatility. He can knock down an open look. He can overpower defenders in the post or finesse his way to a bucket. He can guard posts and slide his feet against quicker, face-up players, and he can help from the weak side and block shots. 

Minnesota's coaching staff is still figuring out how to best utilize his bevy of skills. “We use this time to learn what he’s going to be successful in in-game situations,” assistant coach Ryan Saunders said of Towns, according to Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver. “We like him to post up on the block, but we draw up some things where he does pop out and get a little more freedom. We’re learning with him.”

At Kentucky, Towns' superior size (7'0", 250 lbs) and athleticism allowed him to dominate opponents with ease. Although the skill level is higher at the professional level, the biggest change is the overall speed, size and physicality across the league.

Towns' ability to handle this pressure—including multiple defenders guarding him in the post or standing his ground against charging rim attacks—has been on full display at summer league.

Offense

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

Recognizing double-teams, identifying the proper counter and executing the maneuver is an extremely difficult task for post players. When guards abandon their assignments to bother bigs, officials tend to allow a lot of contact and hacking. 

Knowing whether to attack when a double comes or pass out of pressure is difficult. If the decision to move the ball is made, timing the kick-out to take advantage of the shifting defense takes significant poise and skill.

And for bigs, they're not always statistically rewarded for the correct team-oriented decision. Throwing the ball back to the post-feeder or a weak-side teammate can lead to a secondary dribble drive or multiple ball swings. The credit for the basket is passed on to other players.

But when Towns does make niftier passes to create points, he demonstrates a high-level ability to manipulate angles. 

Take this post-up against Doug McDermott of the Chicago Bulls, a clear mismatch in Towns' favor. Cameron Bairstow straddles the paint between a help position and his original man, Adreian Payne. When Towns puts the ball on the ground, his head is up surveying the defense.

He notices initially that it's Bairstow who's primarily rotating to fend off the mismatch, but the passing angle to Payne is cut off. Bairstow, to his credit, is in a perfect position.

NBA TV

Instead of forcing his way to the rim to capitalize on his size advantage (Bairstow is 6'9"), Towns takes an extended dribble to his left. Although this has no effect in terms of his personal scoring, it opens up a line of sight between him and Payne.

Bairstow finally doubles on the baseline side, but he's no longer ready to disrupt a pass to Payne. 

NBA TV

The Chicago defense does not rotate fast enough, and Towns is able to laser a pass to Payne at the rim.

What's most impressive about this Towns play is his patience. Most players—particularly in summer league when they're trying to impress with individual success—would attack early. Towns understands that the Chicago defense will bend to correct the disadvantage and finds the right moment to attack its weakness.

Defense

When we think of rim protectors in today's NBA, we think of long shot-blockers or Roy Hibbert-style defenders who jump vertically. 

To jump with one's hands straight up in the air seems easy conceptually. But what's actually difficult about verticality is not to get bulldozed during the process.

If an offensive player dips his shoulder and shoves the defender out of the way, the verticality—while certainly not a foul—does nothing to prevent a basket. It takes massive upper body strength to maintain leverage without using your hands. The defender can't stick out a forearm to withstand the blow because his arms are straight up in the air. It's on his chest and core to preserve positional integrity.

Even at 19 years old, Towns has the discipline not to bring his hands down on offensive players and the power to win the physical confrontation.

On this play against the Utah Jazz, Jack Cooley spins baseline after catching the ball in the post against Towns. 

A common technique for post players who find themselves underneath the rim is to jump back into the defender. Although Cooley gains an early edge by using a quick move, he finds himself slightly pinned behind the rim and against the baseline.

Cooley, who played a significant portion of last season in the NBA Development League, isn't the greatest post-up player. But his brute strength is his asset, and it's what propels him to strong scoring and rebounding numbers in spite of his lack of height (6'9"). 

So when he explodes into Towns, you'd expect Towns to jolt backward.

That's not what happens.

NBA TV

Towns once again demonstrates exemplary patience by sticking his hands straight up and allowing the ball to come toward him. With superior height, he should be tempted to swat down at the ball. Instead, he takes the blow right into his chest and allows Cooley to stuff the ball into his waiting arms. The resulting block prevents a layup without fouling.

Towns still has a long way to go in numerous areas of his game. He still needs to get stronger, his jumper is still developing and his post game could use a lot of refinement.

But that's to be expected for any rookie coming into the NBA who only has one year of college basketball experience. Towns is well ahead of most bigs when they enter the league, and very few bring both an offensive and defensive skill set.

Looking across the league, there simply aren't very many bigs who feature both ends of the floor. DeMarcus Cousins and Al Jefferson, two of the best post-up bigs in the league, aren't known as rim protectors. Tyson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan guard the rim like very few players can, but neither can do more than dunk or finish around the rim on offense.

If Towns continues on his upward trajectory as both an offensive and defensive player, he can quickly become one of the best big men in the league. Upside & Motor's Rafael Uehara seems to agree:

"

He’s done enough to suggest that everything could be on the table with him. He enters the league as an elite passer for someone his size and age, who rebounds in volume on both ends and protects the rim. That alone would be enough for him to be the top prospect, but the idea that he might also become a legit scorer from the post and 3-point range makes him a walking video game.

"

Whether he reaches that potential is an entirely different question. But no prospect in this year's draft has his ceiling, and summer league showed flashes of what could be in store.