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NBA GMs: Karl-Anthony Towns to be best 2015-16 rookie in five years

By Ben Beecken

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In NBA.com’s annual general manager survey, a few Wolves players made appearances in some high-profile categories. As always, some made sense.

And as always, some did not.

Most notably, of course, was what GMs around the league think of reigning number-one overall draft pick and Wolves’ rookie big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Somewhat surprisingly, 44.8% of NBA GMs that cast a preseason vote for Rookie of the Year cast it in the direction of Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor. Towns came in a close second with 34.5% of the vote, easily beating third-place finisher Emmanel Mudiay of the Denver Nuggets (13.8%).

Given that Towns was pretty close to a consensus number-one pick and the fact that he’ll be playing with more experienced, pass-first point guards in Ricky Rubio and Andre Miller, it was certainly a surprise to see that Okafor is considered more likely to bring home the hardware.

In a similar but ultimately more important question, the general managers were asked which player in the 2014-15 will be the best player in five years. This question had a decidedly different outcome, with Towns claiming 62.1% of the vote. Okafor, Mudiay, and D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers all tied for second-place with 10.3%.

This seems to fall in line with the general consensus and media talking point that Okafor is a more polished player and will score in the post from the get-go while Towns is a raw talent with a higher ceiling. It’s unclear how true (if at all) this line of thinking is, but apparently the general managers were indeed driving this narrative in the weeks leading up to last June’s draft.

Andrew Wiggins was mentioned second-most in the piece, most notably as the top answer to the question “Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2015-16?” Wiggins topped the list with 17.2%, edging out Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (13.8%) and a third-place tie between Washington’s Bradley Beal and Milwaukee’s Jabari Parker at 10.3%. Shabazz Muhammad was also mentioned under this question as a player “also receiving votes”.

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Tough to argue with this one, although it’s also a category that seems to end up with a random player coming out of nowhere to have a monster year. Yes, Wiggins should improve — he better. But he also won Rookie of the Year last season. How high can those expectations be for a 20 year-old?

Another category that saw Wiggins’ name brought up also saw fellow second-year player Zach LaVine land in third place. The question, of course, was “Which player is most athletic?” Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook won the category with 34.5%, followed with LeBron James at 20.7% and LaVine at 17.2%. Wiggins was listed as “also receiving votes”.

Newcomer and backup point guard Miller was fourth on a list of active players to make the best head coach someday, finishing behind Chris Paul (25%), Mike Conley (14.3%), and Steve Blake (12.5%). Miller received 7.1% of the vote.

In passing, Ricky Rubio was named as the fifth-best passer in the league, getting just 3.6% and finishing behind Paul, James, Stephen Curry, and Rajon Rondo. Kevin Garnett was an “also receiving votes” player in the “best leader” category with James, Tim Duncan, and Paul rounding out the top-three.

Finally, the team as a whole landed in the always-exciting “also receiving votes” list for the tenuous “Which team will be most improved” question. It really seems like the Wolves have been here every year for at least…four, maybe five years now, right?

Brace yourselves, Wolves fans.

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