KAT-less Minnesota Timberwolves are no better than before

When the Minnesota Timberwolves lost PF/C Karl-Anthony Towns to a strained calf injury on November 28, 2022, the Timberwolves entered the game with a record of 10-10 and would emerge at 10-11. The Timberwolves would lose that game to the Washington Wizards by a score of 142 -127.

Whether it was trying to put on a brave face against the uncertainty of what may come next, or simply a belief in the addition-by-subtraction concept, some comments following that injury seemed to suggest that the Timberwolves roster was more cohesive without trying to optimize Towns’ ability to score, combined with the challenges that he faces trying to defend away from the basket.

And by winning three of their next four games, that hypothesis was quickly upgraded to a factual theory by some.  But let’s take a moment to dive a bit deeper. In the six games without Karl-Anthony Towns on the basketball court, the team has scored an average of 117.7 points per game. Over that same time frame, the team’s defense has allowed 119.3 points per game. That’s a deficit of 1.6 points per game, and that is a pretty good formula for losing more games than winning.

There is no turning back from a KAT trade

The truth is that there is no scenario where removing All-Star power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns from the Timberwolves roster makes this a stronger team right now. And despite the insistence that the Timberwolves move on from KAT, that is not going to happen this season. In fact, it’s impossible until the 2023-24 NBA season, at the earliest.

Even if the Timberwolves decide that the roster needs to be reconfigured around SG Anthony Edwards, agreeing on fair compensation between two NBA teams to exchange a supermax Center/Power Forward will not be a simple or instant negotiation. And I am not certain that the Timberwolves front office holds KAT in such low esteem as some fans seem to value their veteran big.

Any exchange which delivers Karl-Anthony Towns to another NBA team must deliver something of better value to the Timberwolves in return. I’m not certain that is an easy bar to jump over. And from what I’ve seen from the Timberwolves roster so far, the team’s needs without Towns in the rotation are pretty significant.