Karl-Anthony Towns Rumors: Star Seen as Most Likely Core T-Wolves Player to Be Traded
If the Minnesota Timberwolves don't make a deep playoff run this season, Karl-Anthony Towns could be a player the team dangles in trade talks to shake up its core around young superstar Anthony Edwards.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, "The consensus among the NBA executives who spoke to HoopsHype is that if Minnesota loses in the first round of the playoffs for the third straight year, Towns could be the most likely member of the core traded."
Those executives cited Edwards' ascension as the face of the franchise, Rudy Gobert's strong play at center—and the fact that the team would never get back the type of trade package they gave up to acquire him in the first place—and Jaden McDaniels' emergence as an excellent two-way wing as the primary motivations behind Towns being the most likely trade piece if Minnesota changes things up.
Scotto added that "the executives also pointed to the New York Knicks as a team with enough young assets and draft picks to get a deal done and a willingness to value Towns' massive contract extension going forward."
Towns' four-year, $222.6 million will kick in for the 2024-25 season.
The Knicks would surely be thrilled at the prospect of pairing Towns with Jalen Brunson and having the sort of star power that Madison Square Garden hasn't seen since the Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porziņģis days.
It will, however, be a moot point if the Timberwolves make noise come the postseason.
They've gotten off to a strong start, with a Western Conference-best 13-4 record. Edwards has paced the team with 26.2 points per game, while Towns (21.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG) has complemented him nicely.
It's hard to imagine the Wolves would want to part with Towns, who is just 28 and has been the face of the franchise since being the top overall pick since he was the top overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.
But the organization's priority now has to be building around the 22-year-old Edwards, who is fast becoming one of the league's elite perimeter scorers. He's already a superstar and is only going to get better, and if the Wolves believe an Edwards-Towns-Gobert trio has hit its ceiling, something will need to eventually change.
