Why Karl-Anthony Towns will be an MVP candidate this season
Ever since the former number-one overall pick entered the league in 2015 he has been a force to be reckoned with. This year, Towns will prove he is a top-tier player in the NBA by competing for the league MVP award.
Although he has only played two seasons in the NBA, Karl-Anthony Towns has already proven to be a top-20 player in the league.
Since entering the league the durable Towns has played, and started, in all 164 games over the past two campaigns. Even though two seasons is a small sample size, the notable increase in his numbers proves he is MVP worthy.
In a rookie season in which Towns averaged 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, his numbers in both categories increased last season. Towns improved his scoring by averaging 25.1 points per game while grabbing 12.3 boards as well.
What does this tell you? Well, it should open your eyes to the fact Towns has an unreachable ceiling and may never stop improving his game. For a center who has averaged a .542 field goal percentage and a .361 three-point percentage over his short career, it is clear Towns is a dominate offensive presence.
However, Towns knows he must still improve certain aspects of his game.
“I’ve got some things I’ve been looking at and I want to do,” Towns said in an interview with The Star Tribune, as reported by USA Today. When asked if he’s working on anything specific, Towns replied by saying, “Always secretive stuff.”
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It isn’t very secretive that Towns needs to step up defensively in order to enter the MVP conversation. Towns ranked third last season among centers in ESPN’s offensive real plus-minus with a 3.54 rating, putting him behind only DeMarcus Cousins and Nikola Jokic. As for real defensive plus-minus, however, Towns ranked dead-last among centers with a -1.41 rating.
In order to be league MVP you must produce on both sides of the court. Towns has the ability to become just as much of a presence on defense as he is on offense. What will only help Towns more will be having defensive genius Tom Thibodeau as his head coach.
Sure, the Wolves just brought in an influx of talent to help Towns which may take away some offensive production. They have Jeff Teague, who has a much better shot than Ricky Rubio and will shoot more from the floor. Jimmy Butler begins his Timberwolves career as the unquestioned leader of the team. Andrew Wiggins is still progressing on both sides of the ball, and Jamal Crawford is here to add an outside shot off the bench.
However, Towns is still the franchise cornerstone and the team knew that while drafting him number one. Heck, he already broke the team’s single-season scoring record last season. Not to mention Towns became the 15th player in history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds and was the first to do so while also hitting 100 three-pointers.
Clearly, Towns is a special talent. He has proven to be a top-20 player in the NBA by progressing in each of his first two seasons. Why should season number three be any different?
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And if the Wolves improve such as the roster suggests they should, more wins should only help his case. Towns is already an MVP on offense, if he can improve defensively this year he will no doubt enter MVP conversations.