Minnesota Timberwolves: The floor and ceiling of Karl-Anthony Towns

The Ceiling for Karl-Anthony Towns

As I’ve noted in the previous slide, it’s difficult to not have an incredibly high ceiling for a guy who just turned 23-years-old a few weeks ago and is averaging All-Star numbers.

But it’s doable.

The only way KAT can truly meet his ceiling is if he maximizes his potential and believes in himself. Don’t try and be what others want from you, be your best-self, and Towns’ best-self is leading by example on and off the court.

The All-Star will be looking to dominate over the next decade, hoping to lead Minnesota down an old tradition of playoff basketball and continue to get them out of the quicksand drought they’ve found themselves in over the past 15 years.

He’s already on his way to helping lead Minnesota to their second straight post season, which is a huge accomplishment when looking at how historic the Western Conference has been over the past few years and how difficult it is to make the playoffs – even as an 8th seed.

I have two ceiling player comparisons for Karl-Anthony Towns, and they are as high as any ceiling can possibly go:

Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan is a 5x NBA Champion, 2x League MVP, and has 15 All-Star selections under his belt.

So, expectations aren’t that high for Towns, right?

Through his first four seasons, Duncan averaged 22.1 PPG, 12.0 TRB, 2.9 AST, 2.4 BLK, with shooting splits of 50.9/16.4/68.1.

And obviously the 3-point shot wasn’t huge during Duncan’s time, but I’m sure he would’ve adapted as a 23-year-old in 2018 – so you can imagine how good he would be now.

When looking at Duncan and Towns through their first four seasons, it’s plausible that you could argue if Towns was in a better situation starting his career off next to a hall of famer like David Robinson or having a leader like Gregg Popovich, that Towns could objectively be one of the best players of his time.

Unfortunately, Towns is stuck in his environment, but looks like he wants to make the best out of it – which is commendable.

Regardless of the on-court similarities when it comes to personality and leadership, Towns looks as if he’s mimicked a lot of Duncan’s post game and added a 3-point shot to it for the current NBA style.

Therefore, even though it’s a crazy comparison when looking at the resume of the two, just take a second and imagine the possibility of Towns’ improving each season and what he’ll look like as a 30-year-old crafty big man in this league – it’s very Tim Duncan-ish.

Our next comparison is one that Wolves’ nation will probably be sick over, but I again think it’s a concrete comparison:

Kevin Garnett

Kevin Garnett is the best player to ever put on a Minnesota Timberwolves’ jersey and I feel the angst from readers already for making such a high ceiling with Duncan and now Twin Cities-own Garnett.

But, Towns’ is arguably going to be a hall of fame player regardless of hitting his floor or ceiling, and hitting a Garnett ceiling is exactly what Minnesota deserves.

KG was also a 15x All-Star and finished his career with a single championship and MVP, making him one of the best players of all time, close behind Tim Duncan.

However, surprisingly enough, Garnett had the lowest numbers through the first four years of his career compared to all the players in this slideshow – which doesn’t mean much for Garnett, but could mean a lot for where Towns’ could be in a few years time.

Garnett averaged 16.2 PPG, 8.4 TRB, 3.3 AST, 1.8 BLK, with shooting splits of 48.6/26.6/73.0.

And while, again, these numbers don’t mean much, it’s important to note for the future of Towns moving forward.

In conclusion, Karl-Anthony Towns is a 23-year-old All-Star who has the potential to finish his career as an Amar’e Stoudemire vet or a Tim Duncan vet – not sure you want that ladder.

Which is essentially LaMarcus Aldridge, ouch.