3. Karl-Anthony Towns
Despite this being the most games Towns has missed, he deserves to be on the list for his production when he has played
Without Towns, the Wolves would have been in even worse shape and that was noticeable after the trade deadline, when Gorgui Dieng was no longer with the team to fill in for KAT.
Towns was having the best scoring season of his career, putting up 26.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals per game over 35 contests. His rebound and block totals were down a bit, but Towns was scoring and facilitating better while taking a larger overall role in the offense.
He was also shooting 50.8 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three and 79.6 percent from the charity stripe. Towns is still chasing the 50/40/90 club, which would almost be unprecedented for a player of his size — only eight players in NBA history managed those thresholds. Additionally, Towns also corralled 24 double-doubles this season.
If the season were to pick up again at some point, it would be likely that Towns would be able to play after being sidelined with a wrist injury. Fans were only able to see one game of the highly anticipated pairing of D’Angelo Russell and Towns following the All-Star Break.
More of Towns and Russell together will not only bring excitement, but give the front office a better idea of what the team needs to do in the offseason.
Despite missing games because of injuries and a couple due to suspension, Towns was predictably one of the most important players this season for Minnesota.