SI's Howard Beck: Wolves should trade KAT for a ransom
Questions about the Timberwolves' attempt to go double-bigs with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert have been echoing since Minnesota gave up five first-round picks, Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Leandro Bolmaro for him last summer. Now 22 games into the season and nothing but a .500 (11-11) record to show for it, there's a growing crowd calling for Minnesota to change course.
Howard Beck, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, thinks the Timberwolves could do wonders for the future of the franchise by trading Towns.
"I’m sure the Wolves want to give this group as long as possible to figure it out, but I’m not convinced they’ll ever get there. Edwards is the future. Gobert has to stay to anchor the defense (and to justify the massive investment of all those picks). Which means it’s time to gauge the market for Towns," Beck wrote.
He added: "He’s a wonderful offensive talent, but he still doesn’t defend at a respectable level and he hasn’t led the Wolves anywhere. Unless you consider two one-and-out playoff appearances to be a success. It’s time to try something different. They can get a ransom for Towns and rebuild around Edwards-Gobert."
Towns suffered a right calf strain in Minnesota's loss to to the Wizards Monday night. He's expected to miss up to six weeks, putting his return sometime in January. What happens in his absence will be far and away the most interesting stretch of the season because if things go well, the Trade Towns crowd will only get bigger.
So far, that's exactly the case. In the first game without Towns, Anthony Edwards took control and guided Minnesota to a 109-101 win over the Grizzlies. Afterward, Edwards told Ja Morant's dad: "You know it. I'm Him."
There's no question that Edwards is the face of the franchise, but could the Wolves really consider trading Towns, who signed a four-year, $224 million super max extension that has him under contract with Minnesota through 2027-28?
"The rules stipulate that based on [Towns] signing his recent extension they couldn't even trade him until next offseason," explained Darren Wolfson on Thursday's Mackey & Judd show.
OK, so the trading Towns idea is dead ... at least for this season.
That means the current iteration of Towns+Gobert+Edwards isn't changing. What will be interesting is how the 20 or so games without Towns go, and if they go well, will it prompt changes when Towns comes back? And more importantly, would a run of great basketball without Towns convince GM Tim Connelly to explore a Towns trade next summer?
Time will tell...
Related: Anthony Edwards after Memphis win: 'You know it. I'm Him.'
