Will Karl-Anthony Towns be part of Timberwolves' bright future?

It might be a bit of an understatement to say that the NBA playoffs haven’t been terribly thrilling. Sure, there have been a handful of exciting games, but the postseason has been marred by blowouts and injuries. There have, however, been some interesting storylines, and the Minnesota Timberwolves getting to the Western Conference finals is certainly one of them.

While the Timberwolves didn’t exactly come out of nowhere this year — they made the playoffs the last two seasons — the fact that they had the third-best record in the league surprised a lot of people. A sweep of the Phoenix Suns and a dismantling of the Denver Nuggets showed that they were no fluke.

One of the major reasons why Minnesota has been so successful this year is due to the play of center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns. While Anthony Edwards is the Wolves star, Towns has been a vital cog, and he’s second on the team in points and rebounds per game, both in the regular season and playoffs. During the series against the Nuggets, there were times when he — and not league MVP Nikola Jokic — looked like the best big man on the floor.

But then the Timberwolves ran into a hot Dallas Mavericks team, and suddenly Towns looked mortal again. In fact, for the first three games, he was downright awful. He shot 15-of-54 from the field and missed all but three of the 22 three-pointers he attempted. Even worse, Towns played soft and got pushed around by the likes of smaller players, including Kyrie Irving.

It was no surprise that the Wolves lost all three of those games. Even though they redeemed themselves in Game 4 to prolong the series, the odds are stacked heavily against them to move on.

Dallas has shown the Timberwolves that they just aren’t good enough — not yet, anyway. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated compares the team to the Mavs of 2022 when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals. The Mavs learned what they needed to do to get to the next level, and they jettisoned several players over the subsequent two years. 

Does this mean Minnesota will do the same? Mannix writes, “If Minnesota can’t win with [Towns], the Timberwolves front office likely will look around to see if Towns can bring back players who can.”

Led by several young players, including Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid, Minnesota is clearly a team on the rise. While Towns is only 28, he’s one of the older guys on the roster, and this offseason could determine whether or not he’s part of the team’s future.