Karl-Anthony Towns Addresses Trade Rumors, Says He Wants to Stay with Timberwolves

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has been included in various trade rumors this summer, but he isn't interested in moving on from the franchise any time soon.

"I just know I can control what I know and how my mindset is," Towns said, per Adam Caparell of GQ Sports. "I've said I want to do great things in Minnesota and nothing in my mind has changed that. They're the ones with the cards. They'll let me know how they look at me in my eyes and that's where we'll go from."

With the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement set to impose harsh penalties for the league's highest-spending teams, the Timberwolves will need to offload some salary. Towns makes the most sense to move since Rudy Gobert is on a huge contract and Anthony Edwards should be nearly untouchable.

Between Towns and Gobert, the belief is that the former could fetch more value, according to Marc Stein.

"Towns is also generally regarded leaguewide as the far more tradeable of the two given he's the younger of the 7-footers (27 to Gobert's 31) and his long-distance shooting ability," Stein wrote. "Towns begins a projected four-year, $235 million contract extension in 2024-25."

Towns is entering the final year of his current contract in 2023-24 worth $36 million, but his new four-year, $224 million extension kicks in during the 2024-25 campaign. He can't be traded until July 7.

The Timberwolves selected Towns first overall in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky, and he has had a significant impact in the Minnesota lineup, earning three All-Star selections and two All-NBA selections.

Towns also had a solid 2022-23 season despite only appearing in 29 games. He averaged 20.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from deep.

But while Towns has found individual success, the Timberwolves have been lackluster in his eight seasons on the roster. Minnesota has made the postseason just three times since drafting Towns and were eliminated in the first round in each of those appearances.

Trading towns could allow the Timberwolves to build a stronger roster around Edwards, Gobert and Jaden McDaniels in the future.

If Minnesota trades Towns, that would leave Taurean Prince as the team's starting power forward in 2023-24, which wouldn't be ideal, so it's possible the Timberwolves would be in the market for his replacement this offseason.