The Minnesota Timberwolves are not having a smooth start to the 2022-23 NBA season. They are 13-14 and 11th in the Western Conference, with a -1.4 point differential. That’s not at all where this team expected to be after 27 games, not with the number of players and picks they traded for Rudy Gobert this summer.
Poor performance always spawns trade ideas, and these Wolves are no exception. Ideas have been swirling, from moving on from D’Angelo Russell to hunting for 3-and-D wings, and there are plenty of trade targets to consider. One of the juiciest ideas, however, has been the prospect of trading Karl-Anthony Towns.
Look anywhere Wolves fans gather, from Twitter to the comments to Twin Cities water coolers, and Towns trade ideas will pop up. The rumors aren’t just from fans, either – The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor and Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck have both discussed the idea recently. If the two centers plan isn’t working, move on from the one who seems to clam up in big games.
Can the Wolves pull the ripcord on a blockbuster Karl-Anthony Towns trade?
It’s an interesting thought experiment to continue, and it’s probably true that moving Towns for the right return would make the Wolves better. That being said, a trade involving Karl-Anthony Towns will absolutely not happen this season. Why is that?
It’s against the rules.
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?
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.
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.