KAT's $190M Extension Is Right Move, Right Time for MIN Amid Jimmy Butler Drama

Karl-Anthony Towns is going to be with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the foreseeable future after reportedly agreeing to a five-year, $190 million super-max extension, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

The T-Wolves had an eventful week, with Jimmy Butler's trade request, Andrew Wiggins and his brother's feud with Stephen Jackson and various other turbulence. The Towns extension is a positive.

He is a franchise-caliber player, and locking him in long term is a great move, even if it means having to take one step back to take two steps forward.

Offense

Towns is a big man for the new age of basketball. He can hurt you inside or outside, and he can do it without sacrificing rebounding. According to Basketball Reference, he is the only player in history with averages of at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and one three-point make per game.

The Wolves added Butler last offseason, and Towns' usage plummeted from 27.5 percent to 22.9 percent. With his new contract, he should be the primary option in Minnesota, and that would be a positive.

Towns wasn't just scoring last year; he was doing so with incredible efficiency, posting a 64.6 true shooting percentage, including 42.1 percent from deep and 58.5 percent from two. The only two players in history to put up similar numbers were LeBron James in 2012-13 (64.0/40.6/60.2) and Stephen Curry last season (67.5/42.3/59.5).

It's an appropriate time to pause and remember that Towns is a center. The Wolves just need to feed him, as The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor points out:

If Towns were averaging 20 shots per game with his present efficiency and free-throw rate, he'd be averaging around 28.6 points per game.

Don't forget that he won the NBA's skills challenge in 2016 as a rookie. He's not going to be playing point guard, but he has impressive ball-handling skills.

A player who puts up 28 points on 65 percent true shooting and 10 boards would be an MVP candidate. That's how good Towns is, and that's how high his ceiling is. It's why he's worth every dime he'll be getting paid.

Defense

There is no perfect measure of defense, but when all the imperfect ones tell the same story, there's a good chance it's the right story. Towns is not a strong defender.

According to NBA.com, when he's the closest defender on a play within six feet of the basket, opponents shoot just 0.4 percentage points worse than they would against an average defender. That's an egregious number for a big man. Compare that with Joel Embiid's minus-12.3 or Kristaps Porzingis' minus-13.7, for instance.

According to ESPN, his defensive real plus-minus is just plus-0.44. Of the 76 centers eligible, Towns ranked 60th, right behind 40-year-old Dirk Nowitzki.

The eye test reveals the same: a defender often caught napping or out of position who rarely makes an effort to recover when beaten.

Part of the issue has been a lack of determination, and allegedly it was a driving force behind Butler's desire to leave. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported in June, "A league source said Butler, who has been frustrated with the nonchalant attitudes of younger teammates—specifically Karl-Anthony Towns—does not intend to sign an extension with the Timberwolves."

Effort is the most important attribute on defense. If you apply yourself enough and understand schemes, you can be an average defender, even if you don't have tremendous physical attributes (see Kyle Korver). The flip side is Wiggins, who has the natural ability. 

Towns will need to hone the less sexy skills.

The Thibodeau Question

Jim Mone/Associated Press

What will happen to head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau?

ESPN's Zach Lowe opined just a day prior to the extension:

"Thibodeau's stewardship is, of course, the wild card. He loves Butler and wants to win. He may have been coaching for his job this season regardless. Wojnarowski reports Thibodeau has no desire to trade Butler even at risk of losing Butler for nothing in July. In that case, Thibodeau doesn't care as much about July as he does April, which is part of the problem in hiring him as GM and coach.

"Potential suitors are curious: When does Glen Taylor, the Wolves' owner, take control of the situation? What would that mean for Thibodeau's immediate future?"

Just a few hours later, Wojnarowski tweeted this:

That, coupled with Towns' extension, may spell the end for Thibodeau, who never seemed to be the best fit for KAT's personality or talent. The coach's rigid mindset appeared to have a more suffocating impact on Towns than a helpful one.

That raises the next big question: Who would replace Thibodeau, both on the bench and in the front office? And what would the Wolves get back in the seemingly inevitable Butler trade?

All of that factors into how much Towns will develop and how far he can carry the Timberwolves.

Regardless, this was the best course of action when there was no perfect option. Towns has more potential to lead the team going forward than Butler or Thibodeau, and forced to choose between the three, Minnesota made the right pick.