Why a Wolves trade of Towns won’t happen now (but might next year)
What would a Karl-Anthony Towns trade look like next year?
Towns will be eligible to be traded on July 7th, 2023, at which point the Wolves could look to move him in a deal. Hopefully, that option won’t be on the table for Minnesota because KAT and Gobert have discovered their chemistry and become the inside-out twin towers behemoth that Tim Connelly and the ownership group were hoping for when they pulled the trigger on the Gobert deal.
If things aren’t working, however, Towns is a viable option to be moved. He is a big who struggles defensively, is frequently out of the lineup, and has completely fallen to pieces when facing locked-in postseason defenses. Anthony Edwards was the best player for the Wolves in the postseason last year and it wasn’t particularly close. Add in some of his questionable statements and seeming lack of leadership, and Towns could absolutely be moved by this front office if it’s not working out.
Towns makes $36 million next season in the last year of his max rookie extension. The Wolves won’t want to simply dump him; they will only trade him to get a high-level player at a position of need back. With Gobert and Edwards in tow, that likely means a point guard or a forward.
A popular option is a trade for Trae Young. Abysmal defense is more palatable at point guard than center, and he is clashing with his organization hardcore. A disappointing season for Atlanta could at least get them listening to phone calls. Other options could be OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors; Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies; DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls if they move on from Nikola Vucevic separately.
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If the Wolves do move on from Towns, it will be a blockbuster trade and it will involve a veteran star coming back. They need to emphasize winning in the present with an aging Rudy Gobert manning the middle; moving Towns for picks and prospects doesn’t help them. Everyone may want to stop dreaming of a Towns trade to fix things right now, but they can certainly start looking ahead to the opportunities of the summer.