The Minnesota Timberwolves have undergone a complete roster overhaul over the past week, the scope of which is almost mind-boggling.
Highlighted by the departures of Andrew Wiggins and Robert Covington and the arrival of D’Angelo Russell, the sudden and stunning changes to the change in teammates around him inspired Karl-Anthony Towns to pay tribute to those players no longer with the team.
KAT took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message of gratitude for the likes of Wiggins, Covington and Gorgui Dieng, among others. Along with the message, Towns shared photographs of moments from his time with those departed teammates.
Seven players that were on the roster on Opening Night are no longer with the Timberwolves after the events of this week, with eight new additions taking their place. In other words, first-year president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas’ plan to completely remake the organization is now well underway.
There has been no question that Towns has grown increasingly weary with the Timberwolves’ ongoing struggles to put together a winning roster around him. The role of Russell’s acquisition on potentially lifting Towns’ obviously lagging spirits cannot be overstated, as the two are longtime friends.
Towns has admitted he’s been left “shocked” by the addition of Russell, something that bodes well in altering his perception of the organization.
The case can be made that the Timberwolves aced the trade deadline this season. The only thing left is to start stacking up some wins in a season that has seen two 10-plus-game losing streaks, including a current 13-game slide.
That being said, easily the most important outcome from this frenetic week is that Towns is presumably a lot happier now than he was going into it.
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