NCAA Tournament Round-Up: Wolves Top Draft Candidates

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Karl-Anthony Towns (12) dunks during the second half of the 2015 NCAA Men

Karl-Anthony Towns (Kentucky)

NCAA Tournament Game Log:

vs. Hampton: 25 minutes, 21 points (8-12 FG, 5-6 FT), 11 rebounds, 3 blocks

vs. Cincinnati: 23 minutes, 8 points (2-4 FG, 4-4 FT) 7 rebounds, 3 blocks

vs. West Virginia: 13 minutes, 1 point (0-3 FG, 1-2 FT), 2 rebounds

vs. Notre Dame: 25 minutes, 25 points (10-13 FG, 5-6 FT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 steals

vs. Wisconsin: 31 minutes, 16 points (7-11 FG, 2-3 FT), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 steal

Towns displayed his dominance many times throughout the tournament. Down the stretch in the elite eight matchup against Notre Dame, the Irish had no answer for Towns. His one glaringly weak game is the game against West Virginia in the sweet sixteen, in which he battled early foul trouble and was benched for most of the second half due to the large lead Kentucky had built.

Towns is likely the most complete big man in the draft in terms of a full body of work as he is strong on both ends of the floor and he also has prototypical size for an NBA big man. At 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds, Towns is very good at using his size and his high basketball IQ to create opportunities offensively and hold down the middle defensively.

If Towns has a weakness, it could be a lack of an offensive arsenal, which is something that can easily improve at the next level. He’s already established a jump-hook and a little turn-around jumper, but NBA defenders will be able to stop those more frequently. Overall, Towns is definitely one of the top draft choices in the upcoming NBA Draft, and it wouldn’t surprise anybody if he was the first player off the board. He would be an excellent fit in Minnesota, as the Wolves could use a talented big man to pair up with Nikola Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng.

Next: Jahlil Okafor