Minnesota Timberwolves: Predicting the Starting Five

Center: Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns is the most obvious pick for the entire starting lineup. He is an incredible All-NBA caliber center at his best that has improved several aspects of his game over the course of the past few years, including his defensive rim protection and playmaking skills. This past season, Towns averaged 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists on shooting splits of 49/39/86 in 50 games played.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Predicting the starting five

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the best players in the NBA – and to get to see him for a full season alongside D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards is going to be special. Hopefully, the Timberwolves have significantly more luck regarding injuries and are able to compete for a playoff (or play-in spot). Regardless, Towns is going to give you 20+ points and ten rebounds nightly, and that type of player is rare – even in today’s NBA.

Getting to see considerable growth for the team in terms of player development also will help Towns – who has only been to the playoffs once in his career. Since Chris Finch took over as head coach, Towns has been used more in elbow actions where he is the primary playmaker, with tons of off-ball motion around him (think about how the Pacers use Sabonis, that’s what the Wolves have done with Towns). This has helped unlock more passing to cutters, open shooters, and given another aspect of spacing that was not there prior.

The Timberwolves have a chance to drastically improve based on their performance last season, and this starting five is among the best they’ve had over the course of the past several seasons.