Should Timberwolves’ big man Karl-Anthony Towns just be a power forward?

In attempting to find a way to fix the still-struggling defense, could a position shift for Karl-Anthony Towns help the Timberwolves address some of their issues?

While the Timberwolves and Karl-Anthony Towns enjoy one of the best starts to a season that the franchise has had in 12 years, one of the bigger talking points for fans is what’s going on with the defense. At a Defensive Efficiency Rating of 110.7, they are currently the 25th-best defensive team in the league, something that undoubtedly has to improve to become at least reasonably competent, if the Wolves hope to continue to play like a top-five team in the NBA.

This has no doubt led to the usual panic-button reactions the long-suffering, but faithful, Wolves fan-collective goes to in times of doubt … Is the coach actually bad on defense? Are the new acquisitions overrated? Are the young superstars hopefuls just hopeless on defense?

I think, especially over the past fewgames, you’re starting to see the bigger picture come together a bit on defense. Guys are where they are supposed to be more often, the team is aggressively running people off the 3-point line, and we’re playing with an energy that suggests confidence in what the game plan is.

But this early struggle has also gotten me to think about the end game in all this … and I wonder if Karl-Anthony Towns should really just be a power forward instead of a center?

Why does Towns have to play center?

For starters, I would agree with the general/modern NBA concept that if you can get shooting at the ‘5’ like Towns provides, it opens up the door for more shooting at other positions, and more space for guys like Andrew Wiggins/Jeff Teague/Jimmy Butler to operate as they penetrate.

Guys who are seven feet tall usually don’t give you any shooting, so the ability to have a guy who can spread the floor like Towns gives you the opportunity to have an excess of shooting and space, which is what most teams would prefer to have.

The issue as I see it –, and I think the Wolves are somewhat concerned about this, too — is that you still need to be strong defensively in the paint, and your center is often the most vital component to good paint defense. While he’s shown some signs of improvement in recent games, for Towns’ entire career, and most of this season, he’s been a big negative and horrifically out of sorts on defense. You can get away with a negative or two on defense, but when your big negative is the center, it makes things a lot more difficult.

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But, at the end of the day, there is no doubt that Towns’ peak value as a player is going to come from being able to be this generational offensive center, while also providing traditional center value on defense as well… He can be a Hall-of-Famer if he never becomes a great defensive anchor, but he may have multiple-time MVP upside if he does figure it out defensively.

And on top of that, I do think he’s got the upside to get there, too. He’s a great rebounder, and while he has a tendency to block hunt too much (which leaves him out of position often, especially in pick and roll defense this can be a problem), he does have good shot-blocking ability that could eventually translate into quality rim protection. He also seems to do okay in isolation defense and getting switched on to smaller players. The tools are there for him to be what it seems like he could be on defense.

I certainly think it behooves the Wolves to exhaust themselves trying to get Towns to realize his potential as a defensive anchor.

…But, might it be better for all parties if they just decided to let Towns be a PF?

Why Karl-Anthony Towns at PF?

• Towns is an insanely good offensive player: You don’t need me to regurgitate a bunch of stats to tell you how good he is, but on top of what he’s currently done, you can tell he’s just scratching the surface on his offensive prowess. He’s up this year in both Free Throw Rate and 3-Point Attempt Rate, while also seeing an increase in True Shooting Percentage to 65 percent. Plus, while his assists are down to start the season, and I’ve long been critical about his tendency to force shots, you can see the building blocks for a great passer too.
• Is it possible to give 110 percent on both sides of the court for 82 games a year? I know everyone wants to live in world where their guys give 110 percent on defense for 33 minutes per game while also leading the charge offensively and carrying their team on their back, dropping 30 points, hitting game-winning shots, for 82 games a year … But how possible is that?

There are few seven-footers in the new up-tempo NBA that are needed for a usage rate of 25 percent or more; Towns is one of them. Rudy Gobert and DeAndre Jordan don’t need to go to work every time down the floor like Towns does, because their impact is always going to be on defense.

So maybe both are true. Maybe Towns does have a great defensive player in him, and in big spots and big games, he can channel that, but also maybe it’s not something we can lean on as the Wolves’ 82-game anchor as well?

I suspect the Wolves are concerned about this too, which is why they prioritized a defensive grinder like Taj Gibson to start with Towns and help him out with paint defense. Also, the drafting of Justin Patton this summer has the ear-markings of “maybe Justin Patton could one day both space the floor for us and help with paint defense so Towns doesn’t have to be the defensive quarterback for 82 games.”

Karl-Anthony Towns on offense could be Dirk Nowitzki-good if everything clicks, and Dirk proved you can win a title with him as your best player. There’s no shame in basically *just* being Dirk. But the Mavericks consistently made an effort to surround him with paint protecting centers, and won the title once they found the perfect fit in Tyson Chandler.

I still believe Towns has the upside to be Dirk on offense and Chandler on defense, and thus be one of the best players ever and a true game-changing NBA Pegasus (“pegasus” cause there are so many “unicorns” these days that they are no longer special)…But I think it might be something to consider…

Maybe he’s just a power forward.

Next: Andrew Wiggins' defense is finally improving

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