Is Karl-Anthony Towns upset with the Timberwolves front office?

Rumors have surfaced suggesting that All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is unhappy with the Timberwolves front office.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst had a conversation on The Lowe Post podcast that touched on Karl-Anthony Towns and his alleged (un)happiness with the Timberwolves front office.

There had been rumblings and it’s been a rough past couple of weeks, as we’d touched on here at Dunking With Wolves, but nothing tangible or concrete. And while that’s still true, Windhorst and Lowe tend to have solid sources and it’s impossible to completely ignore what they’re saying.

Here’s a transcript of part of the discussion:

For the record, Lowe is not reporting an actual rumor, but simply stating that there is tension. Windhorst is perhaps alluding to something more tangible, but the possibility of a trade seems quite far-fetched.

For starters, Towns is a 22-year-old All-Star, and those types of players simply don’t grow on trees. We recently reviewed just how big of a leap KAT made from his second to third years in the NBA, and it would be a shock for the Wolves to entertain an offer of any kind for Towns.

The other piece of this is related to finances. Towns is still on his rookie-scale contract, which is an incredible bargain for a bonafide All-Star. They also will be able to pay Towns more money than any other team, so there would be plenty of incentive for him to stay in Minnesota through at least his first contract extension.

The idea that the Wolves would even entertain an offer for Towns — even if Phoenix were to include the No. 1 overall draft pick in their package — seems absolutely crazy. After all, Towns is a generational talent, and Tom Thibodeau is far from a generational head coach or president of basketball operations. It’s much, much easier to hire another coach than it is to find a player like KAT.

Anyone who watched the Timberwolves on a consistent basis last season knows just how demanding Thibodeau can be, and there did appear to be real tension between Towns and Thibodeau at nearly all times. Therefore, the idea that there could be a rift is far from impossible.

But a rift doesn’t mean that Thibodeau would trade a 22-year-old superstar. Owner Glen Taylor would have to sign-off on such a move, and it seems unlikely that he would be eager to do so after finally reaching the playoffs in 2018 and having a team with two legitimate starts in Towns and Jimmy Butler.

Remember, Butler is a free agent after the 2018-19 season, and if Towns were somehow to be traded in the next few months, the Wolves would be on the cusp of being star-less in just a little over a year.

In short, don’t expect there to be a trade involving Towns, and don’t be surprised if there aren’t any real, substantiated rumors surrounding the Wolves moving KAT.

Next: The possibility of an Andrew Wiggins-for-DeMar DeRozan trade

He’s too good to trade for practically anything Minnesota could get in return, and while Thibodeau has had a rough few weeks, he’s not incompetent. And certainly not to the level that would be required of someone to trade a player such as Karl-Anthony Towns.