Dunking With Wolves
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But…why wouldn’t Kevin Durant consider the Timberwolves?

By Ben Beecken

Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) before the game at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) and Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) before the game at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Free agency has not started yet, but fans are receiving a heavy dose of Kevin Durant rumors, and it’s really not that surprising that the Timberwolves are seldom mentioned as a potential destination.

The Timberwolves have never been a free agency hot-spot. The highest-profile signing in franchise history is, what…Michael Olowokandi in 2003? Mike James in 2006? Andrei Kirilenko in the twilight of his career in 2012?

The likes of Tom Gugliotta, Terrell Brandon, Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, and Al Jefferson were all acquired via trade. Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Wally Szczerbiak, and Kevin Love were all drafted by the Wolves or acquired on draft night.

It’s historically due to a combination of capping themselves out with mediocre players, the team being horrible for more than half of it’s existence, and the reality of cold winters in Minneapolis.

But as it turns out, players seem to be ranking climate, and even market size, much further down their lists of “needs” in regards to where they play. Money and the opportunity to win (and win big) seem to trump average temperature.

The highest-profile free agent that has all but announced that he’ll be testing the market this year is Kevin Durant, although it remains possible, if not likely, that he’ll re-up in Oklahoma City for at least one more year. We have learned that he’s considering a handful of cities outside of Oklahoma, however.

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Kevin Pelton breezed through six possible destinations for ESPN Insider: OKC, Miami, Boston, San Antonio, Golden State, and the L.A. Clippers. Pelton weighs the pros and cons of each situation, but more or less states that Boston and Golden State would be the best long-term options for Durant and his championship window.

San Antonio and OKC would rank as the next-best options, albeit with potentially shorter windows for success, and Pelton doesn’t think much of the opportunities that the Clippers and Miami provide, with weather (and Pat Riley, in Miami’s case) the main reason those locations could prove fruitful down the road.

Tim Faklis at A Wolf Among Wolves posted an open letter to Durant a couple of days ago, urging KD to consider joining what the Timberwolves are building at 600 First Avenue North. It’s a compelling argument, to be sure.

My favorite excerpts:

"Here’s the thing: if you go to Golden State, the average age of their core is 27 years old. The average age of your current team’s core is 27 years old. The average age of the Heat is 34 years old. I could go on. There’s years of a window for championships in all those scenarios, sure.…The average age of the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns/Andrew Wiggins/Zach LaVine core is 21 years old. That core features the last two Rookie of the Year winners, a pair of surefire 20+ points per game scorers, and a potential star who’s finding his footing (speaking of footing, he jumps really really high).I didn’t even factor in Ricky Rubio, who’d give you the ball whenever the hell you wanted. He’s really good at it, Kevin. I didn’t even mention Kris Dunn, who has all the makings of a guy that you desperately want to play with."

He’s not wrong. The Wolves’ core is younger than anyone else’s, and it may be ready to squeak into the playoffs on it’s own without Durant in 2016-17, with a top-four head coach in the fold and a couple of substantial roster tweaks likely still coming over the summer.

Why not join a core that’s primed to be dominate in two to three years and accelerate that championship window to a legitimate six-to-eight years?

Twitter star and gambling savant Bob Voulgaris (@haralabob) brought up Minnesota as a possibility on Monday.

The length of a six-man rotation consisting of Ricky Rubio, Andrew Wiggins, Kevin Durant, Gorgui Dieng, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Zach LaVine is absurd. Add in Kris Dunn, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a longer seven-man group with anywhere near the amount of defensive potential that this Wolves rotation would have.

The basketball fit is fairly synergistic. Durant would go from playing with a ball-dominant point guard in Russell Westbrook to a pass-first point guard in Rubio. He’d need to split shots with Towns and Wiggins, but he’s also never had the ability to play with a big man as skilled as Towns — just imagine the beautifully devastating Durant-Towns pick-and-rolls…

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As Faklis mentions, Durant will be 35 in eight years, and the Wolves’ current core will be in the midst of their respective primes at just 28 years of age. Talk about a long window, even if you assume that they won’t be ready to contend for a title immediately.

There’s a compelling argument for why Minnesota makes the most sense when it comes to winning championships and consistently contending over the remainder of Durant’s career.

Sure, Golden State or San Antonio could bring a title in just a year or two, but both situations are a bit more tenuous, albeit very different from one another, but especially in comparison to the Wolves, who have hired a coach and president who won’t be going anywhere for at least a few years, and back-to-back Rookie of the Year award winners.

If market size is a concern, well, it shouldn’t be. Minneapolis/St. Paul is the 15th-largest media market in the United States, and Oklahoma City is #45.

Weather? Okay, maybe. But if that’s all you’ve got, then this certainly looks like a fairly rosy situation, doesn’t it?

Next: Can Kris Dunn and Ricky Rubio Work Together?

So, come on, KD. Make a bold decision and head up I-35 to win a title or two. Karl-Anthony Towns is waiting…