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This will be Karl-Anthony Towns’ most impactful season yet

By Max Neuhaus

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 11: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves looks on during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 11, 2017 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 11: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves looks on during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 11, 2017 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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While this season might not be Karl Anthony Towns’ best statistical season, it will be his most impactful.

It often has seemed as though fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves have had to see their favorite players have the most productive seasons of his career outside of a Wolves uniform. Of course, this isn’t to say that Wolves players don’t have amazing statistical years in Minnesota, it’s just that their most impactful are in a different city.

Kevin Garnett, it could be argued, was an example of this. No one is saying that KG had a bad run as a Wolf, of course: he is, undeniably, the best Timberwolves player of all time. His most impactful year, however, was his first season in Boston. While he did not have a career-high in any statistical category, he helped out in other ways, as an elite defensive stopper and emotional leader. Garnett’s MVP year in Minnesota saw him become the best player in the NBA. However, with not much talent around him that season, his greatness was not brought to its full potential.

Another man on the Timberwolves Mount Rushmore who impacted his team more in a different city was Kevin Love. Again, no one is taking away what Love did in Minnesota. The crazy nights of 30 points and 20 rebounds, the 51-point game against the Thunder, the 30 points and 30 rebounds he put up against the Knicks. When he brought his talents to Cleveland to play alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, his impact was much greater. When in Minnesota, none of his teams made it to the playoffs. When in the playoffs during the 2015-16 championship season, his rebounding and scoring touch were much more crucial for LBJ and company.

Enter Karl Anthony Towns. The man who many consider to already be a top-three big man in the NBA put up a monster stat line of 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game a year ago. Also, just in case you needed reminding, it was only his second season in The Association. With those numbers, it is easy to forget that he is just scratching the surface. Now that the Wolves have put great talent around him, expect him to have the most impactful season of his career.

Normally, the most impactful season of a player’s career comes when he has other high-level players around him. The Timberwolves offseason set Towns up perfectly with the additions of Jeff Teague, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford. Of course, they also have a player oozing with potential in Andrew Wiggins who is capable of scoring 40 points on any given night.

Even when compared against former number-one-overall picks, his numbers stick out. Last season, the 2015-16 unanimous rookie of the year was fourth among top picks in scoring in their rookie seasons (25.1 points per game) over players like John Wall, Blake Griffin, and teammate Andrew Wiggins. Towns was also high on the rebounding list, ranking second with 12.3 behind only Dwight Howard. Again, that ranks him ahead of elite players like Anthony Davis and LeBron James in their respective rookie seasons.

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Insert Jimmy Butler a legitimate top-15 player and elite contributoron both ends of the court. His driving ability is well-documented, and any time down the court, he is capable of either laying a finger roll off the glass or converting a thunderous jam. Jimmy Buckets is also lethal on the fast break, ranking 11th in the league at four points per game.

Let’s take a look at the whole picture. Add the average points per game of Jeff Teague (15.3), Jamal Crawford (12.3), Taj Gibson (9.0), Jimmy Butler (23.9), and newly signed Aaron Brooks (5) together, and you’ll arrive at 65.5 points per game. If you combine that with the players on the roster from last season (KAT, Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, Nemanja Bjelica, and Tyus Jones), you get a staggering 143.8 points per game. That is 27.9 points more than the NBA champion Warriors last season. (Obviously, this doesn’t resemble anything close to perfect math or suggest how much the Wolves will score as a team, but it’s an interesting look at just how potent the offense should be in 2017-18.)

In a perfect world, the Wolves would just outscore everyone and not worry about defense. Of course, the NBA is far from a perfect world. Players are going to have to sacrifice stats for the good of the team. The Golden State Warriors did exactly that, remember.

Towns is the perfect candidate for that. His “winning comes first” attitude is genuine. He’s a very good playmaker out of the post, and while he only averaged 2.7 assists per game last season, his ability to both attack and look for open players in the post was a valuable skill last year.

Here is a perfect example from his rookie season:

That is one of Karl Anthony Towns’ favorite passes: fake your drive to the basket and drop it off to the free post player when their man rotates to him. Notice how, at the beginning of the play, Ricky Rubio was able to get into the paint and draw the extra post defender to him. Rubio is not known as a scorer, so imagine how Teague or even Butler will be able to pull defenders his direction after a Towns pick-and-roll.

With his elite scoring ability he will, more often than not, command a double team. That would leave open either Butler, Wiggins, or Teague — none of whom you want to give open shots if you’re the defense. With Towns’ ability to see over the defense, that should make for plenty of easy buckets for player like Butler and Wiggins who like to cut to the hoop.

While he might be asked to give up shots, I think Townswill have much more growth on the defensive end. KAT is a smart player and realizes the weaknesses in his game. Plus, with Butler and Taj coming to town, he can soak up all the info they had for playing under Thibs for years.

Also, I have not been bashful in telling anyone who would listen about how his poor defense was not all his fault. Of course, you can’t blame it all on someone else, either, but he had awful defenders in front of him. Wiggins and Zach Lavine were rarely able to stay in front of their man and, in turn, would leave Towns in some very bad positions. And now, with Butler in front of him, there should be a lot less blown assignments and free players running to the rim.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the former Wildcat’s stats are gonna fall off of a cliff. He will still average 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. He will still be called on in late game situations. He will still climb his way up the “best players in the league” mountain.

But what I am saying is it takes a certain type of player to sacrifice stats — especially a young guy like Towns. However, when you get a collection of talent like the one displayed in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, everyone is going to have to give something up.

Next: Does OKC's addition of Carmelo Anthony impact the Wolves?

KAT will still be a monster. He will just be different type of monster.

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