While the Minnesota Timberwolves have gone into a free-fall, Karl-Anthony Towns has reportedly become unhappy and teams around the league are monitoring his situation according to the latest NBA rumors.
After a promising start to the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost 12 of their last 13 games which has caused frustration among the team and fanbase and they now find themselves in the mill of NBA rumors.
One of the reasons for the Wolves’ awful stretch of play has been the absence of Karl-Anthony Towns, who has missed the last six games with a knee injury.
KAT has had a front row seat to see that this team looks pretty hopeless without him, and the buzz around league executives at the recent G League showcase was that the All-Star center is upset with his situation in Minneapolis.
According to Ethan Strauss of The Athletic (subscription required), the Golden State Warriors are keeping a close eye on the potentially disgruntled superstar.
Towns seemed pretty happy to be in Minnesota when he signed a five-year, $158.3 million contract extension with the Wolves in September of 2018, and that investment was paying off when Minnesota hopped out to a 7-4 start while KAT was playing like an MVP.
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However, Wolves fans always have to be wary of their stars becoming unhappy and this losing streak seems to have triggered that feeling in KAT.
We’ve recently explored the idea of trading Towns on the site, and it looks like the Wolves’ front office might have to broach that subject as well if they are unable to convince KAT that Minnesota is the perfect place for him.
The Wolves are set to have KAT under contract through the 2023-24 season, and forcing your way out of town in the first year of a five-year deal would be pretty extreme, even in this age of player empowerment and player movement.
But we’ve already seen some smoke with the recent report that the Knicks are keeping tabs on KAT, so there may indeed be some fire in this rumor.
The Warriors would have to match Towns’ salary in a trade, so one of their All-Stars would likely have to be moved to Minnesota in a deal.
Minnesota fans have been dreaming of D’Angelo Russell in a Timberwolves jersey and Russell’s salary is identical to Towns’, but they didn’t think they’d be giving up KAT in that potential deal.
We know that Russell and Towns have a strong relationship, so it’s possible that Golden State wants to send one of their older stars to Minnesota if KAT becomes available.
The Wolves have done basically everything they could to keep Towns happy except win consistently, and the Warriors’ track record of winning has to be attractive to a player who’s only been to the postseason once in his career.
While it’s too early to press the panic button in Minnesota and make a shortsighted move in the first year of KAT’s five-year deal, the Wolves have to consider all options if this tailspin continues and Towns starts to vocalize his displeasure.
For now, Ryan Saunders and his squad have to focus on the one factor that will make Towns change his tune: winning.