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Karl-Anthony Towns can be Minnesota’s best 3-point shooter

By Jake Paynting

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 07: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball during fan day as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China on October 7, 2017 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. 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)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 07: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball during fan day as part of 2017 NBA Global Games China on October 7, 2017 at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China. 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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This Timberwolves team is geared up to become the franchises most competitive since the days of Kevin Garnett, but could we see a surprising 3-point leader?

The wait is over, the new NBA season is finally upon us.

Wolves basketball is underway too, although not the way most Minnesota Timberwolves’ fans would have liked – or Karl-Anthony Towns – who struggled to shake off the summer rust.

He did put up 18 points and 13 rebounds on 8-15 shooting, although he failed to connect from deep, attempting just one 3 in the 107-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

It was a frustrating game, but the Wolves core is set in place now, and finally looking like a team that can be competitive out in the scary Western Conference.

With key players like Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague all streaky 3-point shooters, It’ll be a different sort of elite team than we are used to.

Golden State, Cleveland, Houston and Boston were the best shooting teams from range last year, so it’s  no surprise that none of the four finished lower than third in their respective conferences.

So with a bunch of average, yet not spectacular shooters surrounding him, can Karl-Anthony Towns become the man that the Wolves can rely on most from outside?

Towns evolved from an exciting rookie into an offensive monster last season and his shooting from range didn’t trail far behind.

According to NBA stats, Towns shot more 3’s per game last year ( 1.1 to 3.4) and still managed to hit a better percentage than his rookie season (34.1 to 36.7).

With the aforementioned Teague, Butler and Wiggins, as well as bench scorers like Jamal Crawford and Shabazz Muhammad all shooting under 37 percent from 3, the Wolves need someone who can reliably hit over 40 percent from downtown.

And if the second half of last season and the start of this one is anything to go by, Towns is ready to be that guy.

As shown here by Synergy Sports Tech, the sample size is small, but the results are quite up and down.

It was his end of the season that made Towns’ potential to stretch the floor from the center position so fascinating to watch.

Post All-Star break, he shot 43.4 percent on 3’s. Taking over 3 a game.

That’s all while averaging over 28 points and 13 rebounds and flirting with 50/40/90 type numbers.

That’s where this argument gets tricky.

Towns is an elite scorer on the block, and he may be even better in the mid-range. Combine that with his uncanny work rate on the glass, and you can clearly see that this isn’t a man you want standing on the 3-point line for long stretches.

In this case, its very much a case of quality over quantity.

Standard pick-and-pop plays will be available with new star teammates Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler, as well as Andrew Wiggins, who will enter his third year alongside Towns.

Butler will be a completely different beast when it comes to playmaking than the man he replaced, Zach LaVine.

As you can see from this graphic from NBA.com, theWolvess have got a huge upgrade over Lavine in the pick-and-roll game too.

Butler averaged a career high 5.5 assists last season. When he, or Wiggins are running the isolation plays that they both frequently have success with, this is when the reliability of Towns will be cherished by Wolves fans.

If he can become more active in getting out to the perimeter on these types of plays, he will find himself with open corner, or above-break 3’s to bury:

It’s is this kind of development that will lead to more gaudy numbers for Towns, but more importantly, open up lanes for cutters who can benefit from the defense overcommitting to Towns.

https://twitter.com/alexis_bullen/status/826273826442973186

If Towns can become the best shooter on the Wolves roster this year, it will work wonders for this team that is clawing its way back to NBA relevance.

Moving on from the ugly – well by his standards anyway- first game, this could be the 3-ball-Towns year.

Next: Mentor and mentee: Does the process make a difference?

We don’t need him to be jacking them up, but if big KAT can shoot at a dangerous 40 plus percentage from distance, opposing defense’s around the league are going to be stretched thin by this hungry Timberwolves team.

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