The latest Karl-Anthony Towns rumors and speculation
Karl-Anthony Towns rumors and speculation continue to swirl with the NBA Draft just 24 hours away. But the truth, according to longtime Timberwolves insider Jon Krawczynski, it is highly unlikely Towns is traded.
"There is nothing close right now. I know that so many people are really excited about possibly trading KAT to Portland for No. 3 and all that. I'm not saying it will definitely not happen, but as of today...36 hours before the draft...they haven't gotten any traction on anything big yet," Krawczynski said on The Jon Krawcyznski Show Wednesday.
The 27-year-old big man is set to have his super max extension kick in in 2024-25. That mega contract coupled with Rudy Gobert's max contract, a soon-to-come max contract for Anthony Edwards and a lucrative deal for Jaden McDaniels will make affording all four at the same time difficult. That alone is helping fuel speculation that Towns could get dealt. But Minnesota is in no hurry to make a deal.
"Our pretty strong guess is we have a core and we're excited to run it back," Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said Wednesday.
Running it back would provide Mike Conley, Edwards, McDaniels, Towns and Gobert a second year together. And not just a second year together, but a fresh start with healthy legs and backs and hands.
"When you recap our season, we were disappointed that we were in the play-in. We were disappointed we were on the road to start the play-in. You can point to specific games and we weren't good enough. Then you look at long stretches of basketball where we thought we looked like a viable team," said Connelly. "We're pretty excited about our core. I think Finchy's an elite coach. Having the year under his belt and hopefully a healthy year, we think we can be pretty good."
That aligns nicely with what Connelly said this week on KFAN-FM 100.3.
"Karl's an elite player. I always joke with anybody I meet to make these proclamations that 'I will never trade you,'... I would never say that as there are countless players out there, but I don't think there's any real expectation that our team can be much different," Connelly told host Dan Barreiro. "Guys like Ant and Karl and Rudy and Jaden, you don't trade these guys unless your socks are absolutely knocked off."
If they run it back and it doesn't go well, Connelly can still make a deal.
"They can still start this next season, play for a while, and then if the results are similar to what last year was, you can still make a move at the February trade deadline and trade KAT or Rudy or whomever," Krawczynski said. "You could trade them before the draft next year and still do the same thing."
The most rumored about trade partner has been Portland and the No. 3 pick, which could very well be the slot where G League point guard Scoot Henderson is selected Thursday night. It's sexy speculation, but there doesn't appear to be much truth to it.
"For all the speculation about Minnesota sharpshooter Karl-Anthony Towns, there has been no apparent interest from either the Wolves or Blazers, sources said, on deal frameworks surrounding Towns for the third pick," Yahoo! Sports' Jake Fischer wrote in an article this week.
Krawczynsk added in his latest intel column for The Athletic that Portland-Minnesota trade speculation "has no basis in reality at this point."
"There has been nothing of substance for Towns, Taurean Prince or any of the other players on the Wolves roster," he wrote.
