Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns deserves to be an All-Star

In his third year as a pro, Karl-Anthony Towns has continued to turn heads around the league and has proven he is All-Star-worthy this season.

Karl-Anthony Towns’ versatility and drive are just two of many traits that has made him so good in the early stage of his career, and he’s finally in a position to have a legitimate case to make the All-Star team in the Western Conference.

The second returns of the 2018 All-Star fan voting were released on Thursday. Despite leading the league in double-doubles, Towns only received the ninth-most votes among frontcourt players.

The West is stacked when it comes to frontcourt players. However, Towns should be getting more love from the fans. Put simply, he has played at a level so far this season that should be rewarded with more votes than he currently has to his name.

Towns has certainly played at a higher level than Kyle Kuzma, who ranks just ahead of him at No. 8 in frontcourt voting. And, in case you missed it, he absolutely outplayed Carmelo Anthony and Paul George during the Wolves win Wednesday night over the Thunder. Incredibly, Kawhi Leonard hasn’t even played in 10 games yet but sits sixth in fan voting.

Just like Jimmy Butler, who also ranks No. 9 among his position group in voting, Towns is behind players he has outplayed this season. If you don’t think so, consider what he did this week let alone over the course of the season.

He has been very impressive, to say the least. Out of the five above-listed players, at least four of them will also be All-Stars. Davis and Cousins have more votes than Towns, yet they have been outplayed by him recently and the Wolves are 3-0 against the Pelicans so far this year.

Towns also shined against the Celtics, who are one of the best teams in the league.

Over his last five games, Towns has the second-most rebounds in the league, grabbing 15.6 per game. Additionally, he’s scoring just over 21 points per game on 61.5 percent shooting. He is also shooting over 56 percent from three over that span and over 94 percent from the free throw line.

And that’s just over the past five games. Factor in how well he has played and improved on defense all season up until this point.

Among other players in the Western Conference, Towns ranks 14th in points per game with 20.2. That average is second among West centers only behind DeMarcus Cousins. His 54 percent field goal percentage is eighth-best in the west. Most impressively, his 3-point percentage of 41.1 is 14th in the West.

May I remind you that Towns is a center? He is also third in the West, grabbing 12 rebounds per game.

His passing is gorgeous for a big man, too. Check out this beautiful look that came just before halftime Friday night against the Knicks.

From an advanced stats perspective, he is fourth in the league in Basketball-Reference’s win shares with seven. His ESPN Offensive Real Plus-Minus is 24th in the league at 2.78. However, that mark is second in the league among centers.

Again, the biggest reason Towns should be an All-Star is his major improvement on defense.

Although his defensive real plus-minus ranks 35th among centers at 1.00, and compared to last year it is much better. Last season Towns ranked 67th — dead last — among centers with a defensive real plus-minus of -1.41.

In the eyes of most, his defense was the only thing holding him back. Now that he is figuring it all out defensively, is there anything holding him back?

It may only be his third season, but Towns should be an All-Star. He has proved he is worthy of a bid all season and doesn’t deserve to be snubbed as he is a big reason for the Wolves success this season.

Next: 5 best Timberwolves performances of the season

Fans: do your part and vote Towns into the All-Star Game. Fan voting counts for one-third of overall voting, and every little bit counts. There are only a few days left to help get the Wolves big man to his first career All-Star appearance.