Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns ranked as top-three center

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns was recently ranked third in the NBA at his position.

Every year, there are multiple player-ranking lists published across the basketball blogosphere. Finally, the Minnesota Timberwolves have two guys who are in the top-15 at their respective positions.

Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey and Dan Favale recently put together top-15 lists at each position. D’Angelo Russell barely cracked the point guard list, landing at No. 14. Still, that means he’s in the top half of the league at his position, and that isn’t insignificant.

Towns has been a consensus top-five center for a few years now, but where he lands on such a list as things currently stand is an interesting point of discussion.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns ranked as top-three center

On the one hand, Towns saw his 3-point percentage tick up slightly in a whopping 3.3 attempts more per game compared to the previous season. Additionally, his assist rate jumped significantly too as Ryan Saunders afforded KAT more opportunities to be a playmaker. All the while, Towns’ turnover rate went down while his free throw rate climbed.

Defensively, Towns regressed ever so slightly, however, and the Wolves went on a pair of double-digit losing streaks that mostly occurred with a healthy Towns on the floor.

Due mostly to his injuries, Towns was left off the Western Conference All-Star roster and was largely a forgotten star by the time of March’s NBA hiatus.

All that to say, it’s fair to wonder where Towns fits on a list of top centers in the league as the stars of Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, and others continue to rise.

Well, at least according to Bailey and Favale at Bleacher Report, Towns remains a top-three player at his position.

Towns ranks No. 3, behind Denver’s Jokic, who topped the list, and Philly’s Embiid, who edged Towns at No. 2. Interestingly, Towns beat out Utah’s Gobert, who landed at No. 4 despite his reputation as the league’s best defensive big men and an efficient offensive contributor.

At the end of the day, Towns’ versatility and shocking efficiency on the offensive end are enough to put him in the top three.

It’s hard to argue with the ranking. Towns still has the ceiling to be the top center in the league, with superior athleticism and shooting to Jokic and a more well-rounded offensive game than Embiid. But the top four, including Gobert, seemed to shake out about right.

The rest of the list could use some shuffling. For instance, Miami’s Bam Adebayo at No. 5 seems a bit aggressive. LaMarcus Aldridge still managed to come in at No. 8 and the emerging former top-overall pick Deandre Ayton is all the way up at No. 7.

But Towns ranking third gives the Wolves two players in the top 14 at their respective positions. And that means that the Minnesota Timberwolves definitely have two-thirds of their own young, still-developing Big Three.