Why a Wolves trade of Towns won’t happen now (but might next year)

The Wolves can’t trade Karl-Anthony Towns right now

There are some logical reasons the Wolves wouldn’t trade Karl-Anthony Towns during the season. The pairing with Rudy Gobert will take time, and the Wolves shouldn’t rush to give up on the team-up. Towns is also on a large contract, and can’t be traded to a team with two other Designated Veteran Players. Those facts limit his trade suitors.

But on top of all of that is this one stark reality: it is against NBA rules for the Wolves to trade Karl-Anthony Towns.

No, not because he’s on some sort of “Can’t Trade” list, like when Fantasy sports have a “Can’t Cut” list. No, the reason is that Towns signed a “Supermax” extension this past summer, a fact quickly obscured by the Gobert trade. Players who sign a supermax are ineligible to be traded for one full calendar year after the signing, which means Towns can’t be traded until July of 2023.

That means no blockbuster trades to swap Towns for another star player, no Kevin Durant phone calls, no impatient firings of the trade machine. This season the core of this team is essentially set with Gobert, Towns, and Anthony Edwards, and that isn’t going to change.

Next summer, however, is very much in play. If the Wolves continue to stumble, what could a deal next summer look like?