Minnesota Timberwolves: Can Towns catch Garnett as best Wolf ever?

Can Karl-Anthony Towns overtake Kevin Garnett as the greatest Minnesota Timberwolves player?

Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket. KG. Whatever you call him, he is synonymous with Minnesota Timberwolves basketball.

Garnett is one of the best players in NBA history, and is unquestionably the greatest player in the history of the Timberwolves.

He leads the franchise in almost every statistical category, including minutes played, points scored, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, just to name a few.

Garnett was also the leader of the Wolves during the winningest stretch in franchise history. He brought the Wolves to eight straight playoff appearances between 1997 and 2004, even pushing the Kobe-Shaq Lakers to six games in the 2004 Western Conference Finals.

During his 14 years with the Timberwolves, Garnett accumulated a whole trophy case of awards. He won the MVP in 2004, was a 10-time All-Star, made First Team All-NBA three times, the Second Team three times, and Third Team twice, while also making the first-team All-Defensive First Team six times and Second Team twice. Garnett also took home the MVP award at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game.

The only thing Garnett couldn’t quite accomplish in Minnesota was winning an NBA championship.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Can Towns catch Garnett as best Wolf ever?

To most Wolves fans, it seems like KG will be the king of the franchise forever, but could it be possible for a player to someday overtake the legend as the greatest player in Timberwolves history?

It’s hard to imagine, but Karl-Anthony Towns might just be the player to one day eclipse The Big Ticket. Towns is already probably the second-best player in franchise history, and at 24 years old, still has his best years ahead of him to try to catch up to KG.

Comparing Garnett and KAT’s first five seasons in the NBA, the advantage actually goes to Towns., at least from a statistical standpoint.

Between 1996 and 2000, Garnett averaged 17.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game compared to Towns’ 2016 to 2020 averages of 22.7, 11.8, and 2.8, respectively. Towns has been the better shooter across the board, and has the edge in almost all advanced statistical categories as well.

Garnett made three All-Star teams to Towns’ two selections, and Garnett made a one First Team and one Third Team All-NBA by year five, while Towns only made the Third Team in 2018.

The main difference is that Garnett lead the Wolves to four playoff appearances in his first five seasons, while Towns needed to team up with Jimmy Butler for his lone playoff series in 2018.

Garnett’s biggest advantages at the five-year mark were his defense and leadership qualities. He was a rising star who improved every year. Towns on the other hand is an offensive unicorn who can score with anyone and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league regardless of position.

The biggest question for Towns moving forward is his ability to win. Towns may be in the best position of his career to gel with a second star in D’Angelo Russell, a prerequisite to finally building some success in Minnesota.

Towns will turn 25 in November, so he likely has a chance to be an elite player for up to 10 more seasons. In the next decade, a few things need to happen for him to pass Garnett in the Timberwolves’ pantheon.

First of all, and most likely to happen, Towns needs to keep building on his numbers. From Year Six to Year Twelve in Minnesota, Garnett averaged 22.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, and five assists per game. Towns had his best scoring season this year averaging 26.5, albeit in only 35 games played. If he can keep improving his scoring, keep rebounding at a high rate, and improve his playmaking (his assists were up from 3.4 per game in 2018-19 to 4.4 in 2019-20), Towns will be able to eclipse Garnett’s numbers.

Towns will also need to start racking up All-Star and All-NBA honors. To eclipse Garnett, Towns will likely at least need to be a 10-time All-Star, and at least make seven All-NBA teams, with at least four or five of those being First Team selections.

The biggest question mark in all of this is how long will Towns even play in a Wolves jersey? There have been rumblings over the past year that Towns is unhappy in Minnesota, and may go the way of Anthony Davis and request a trade with a few years still left on his contract. If Towns only spends eight or fewer seasons in Minnesota, then he has absolutely no chance to pass KG. At the moment, he remains under contract for four more seasons.

The one thing Towns can do to speed up his ascent to the top is win a championship. If he somehow brings the Wolves to the promised land, Towns will have a hell of a case for best Timberwolf ever.

Garnett got close to the Finals, and was one Sam Cassell injury away from making it and having a real chance at a title, but even The Big Ticket couldn’t quite get there.

If Towns wins one championship, the conversation between himself and Garnett gets very interesting. If Towns somehow wins multiple championships, he will likely take Garnett’s spot at the top of Timberwolves fans’ shrines everywhere.

If Karl-Anthony Towns stays in Minnesota for 10 more years, makes 10 All-Star teams, eight All-NBA teams, keeps accumulating stats at the same pace, and most importantly wins an NBA Championship … yes, he can indeed overtake Kevin Garnett as the best player in franchise history.

Is it likely? No, but in the words of The Big Ticket himself “anything is possible!”.