Report: Timberwolves open to pairing Karl-Anthony Towns with another center

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Monday that the Minnesota Timberwolves have discussed possible trades around veteran centers, including Clint Capela of the Atlanta Hawks.

Wolves beat writer Dane Moore added that the team is open to pairing star player Karl-Anthony Towns with another center. (noting though that it would have to be the right center and that such a move is not a lock to happen).

Towns, already a three-time All-Star at 26 years old, is firmly entrenched in Minnesota’s frontcourt. Meanwhile, a player like Capela, who led the NBA in rebounding a year ago, is probably too good to be Towns’ full-time backup, especially for what he would cost. That means Towns would likely have to shift to power forward to make something like that work.

Granted, Towns is plenty capable. He is an elite marksman, converting on 41% of his attempts from distance this year and even winning the Three Point Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend. Towns is also nimble enough to defend stretch power forwards and has the passing ability to juice up the offense. A dynamic lob threat and shot blocker like Capela would help complete the puzzle as well.

While a Towns-Capela frontcourt feels unusual at first glance, we did see a similar big-big pairing succeed in this year’s playoffs with Al Horford and Robert Williams for the Boston Celtics. If Towns is willing to play the role of Horford, the Wolves could foreseeably make such a trade happen (likely by sending out this other big name on their roster).