Karl-Anthony Towns should demand a trade from Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns deserves better than the Minnesota Timberwolves.

This has nothing to do with the people that live in the city of Minneapolis or the fans that unironically support this half-assedly, depressingly ran franchise. The people at the top of the Timberwolves food chain are 100 percent to blame. Since the 2003-04 season, Minnesota has made the postseason just once in 2017-18–a pissing contest between Jimmy Butler and every high-ranking Wolves official who looked at him with the wrong eye. Towns, who had his own faults in that debacle, was made out to be the soft-hearted kid who didn’t know how to deal with a challenge head-on. That was the most successful season for the franchise in nearly 20 years now, and the Wolves haven’t come close to finishing at .500 in the three seasons since, even without all that extra baggage. A blockbuster trade for Towns’ close personal friend D’Angelo Russell did not move the needle. Minny is now on its third head coach in three seasons and will soon be on its fifth president of basketball operations since 2009.

But the situation escalated to a point that could be beyond repair on Wednesday. The Timberwolves fired GM Gersson Rosas, who was making free-agent signings (including former Wildcat Jarred Vanderbilt) just last week, without any justification whatsoever. Timberwolves executive vice president Sachin Gupta will fill the role for the time being. Rosas, hired as the president of basketball operations in May 2019, was the man who drafted Anthony Edwards (a home run, admittedly) with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and paired Towns with his best friend.

Towns, the team’s franchise player, apparently found out about Rosas’ firing the same we all did–through a two-sentence press release.

wtf…

— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) September 22, 2021

Just 12 minutes after the news hit the internet, Towns tweeted out the exact phrase that the entire state of Minnesota muttered when they found out the news themselves. The Wolves are now under one month until the start of the 2021-22 season, without a GM, and no better from a roster standpoint than they were three months ago when they finished 13th in the Western Conference standings. Training camp is set to begin on Monday.

The news was so shocking to everyone that Rosas was still holding meetings and was reportedly in the gym as recently as Wednesday morning, according to ESPN. But at the same time, this move was privately bubbling for some time now. The Wolves’ current governor, Glen Taylor, who has been in charge of the franchise since 1994, is in the process of transferring ownership over to Alex Rodriguez (yes, that Alex Rodriguez) and Marc Lore. Change was coming regardless.

Rosas is far from perfect though, let’s make that clear. He conducted a very poorly executed mid-season coaching hire after relieving then-head coach Ryan Saunders–a person supported by KAT–following a horrific start to the 2020-21 season. Minnesota had zero picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, which came as a result of swapping Andrew Wiggins for Russell in a trade. Rosas went for win-now moves to build around Towns that have utterly failed in the early stages. The Star-Tribune reports that the culture Rosas instilled was one that was already deteriorating. Unfortunately for the Wolves, they don’t have much more time to make it right. In fact, I’d argue the timer has already run out.

Karl-Anthony Towns is about to embark on his seventh NBA season at the still young age of 25 before turning 26 in November. He was drafted by the Wolves No. 1 overall in 2015 and has been with the team since. In those six professional seasons, he’s been named a two-time All-Star, a 2017-18 All-NBA member, and the 2015-16 Rookie of the Year. Through his first three seasons, he played all 82 games each year. This past season, Towns averaged 24.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 blocks per outing on shooting splits of 48.6/38.7/85.9. In 2019-20, he shot over 50 percent from the field and over 41 percent from beyond the arc.

And what does the franchise have to show for his efforts? A combined record of 185-279 and one first-round playoff exit that was marred by drama and locker room turmoil. Firing the GM four weeks before the season without explanation isn’t exactly a sign of optimism for the future. For these reasons, Karl-Anthony Towns should demand a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves sooner rather than later. While I don’t expect it to happen this season, I would circle next summer as his trade demand timeline, when he has just two years left on his supermax contract extension.

If we’re looking for a reference point, former Kentucky Wildcat Anthony Davis was locked into a similar situation with the New Orleans Pelicans, where the plan to win around him never formulated. He requested a trade following his seventh NBA season, ultimately landing with the Los Angeles Lakers where he immediately won an NBA championship next to LeBron James the next year.

Towns, while not a top 10 player in the NBA like Davis, is still a top 20 player worthy of generating a hefty haul for the Wolves if Minnesota was forced into trading him. We’re looking at a ransom similar to what the Pelicans got in exchange for Jrue Holiday, not what the Philadelphia 76ers will eventually get for Ben Simmons. The New York Knicks would surely be interested in Towns. And what about the likes of the Portland Trail Blazers or Sacramento Kings? Hell, just trade him for Simmons and have the 76ers throw in all of their first-round picks–screw what Joel Embiid thinks.

If KAT waits much longer, he’ll end up delaying a path to success. It took Kevin Garnett 12 seasons in Minnesota before poor relationships finally boiled over and he was traded to the Boston Celtics (where he also won an NBA title the year after being shipped off). What’s going to happen next is the Wolves will either stay put without making any significant roster changes throughout the season and finish near the bottom once again, or they’ll make another win-now move to appease Towns, perhaps swinging for the fences and chasing after Simmons, hopefully sneaking into the playoffs.

Whichever one happens isn’t going to make the Wolves title contenders over the course of the next couple of seasons. Towns is locked in with Minnesota for another three seasons. The franchise has the upper hand in that regard, but power has been shifting toward the players for years now. He can get out if he really wants to.

If Karl-Anthony Towns wants to win, the only way to do so is in another city for a competent franchise.