Timberwolves have plenty of options if 2023-24 season is a bust

Timberwolves’ trials and tribulations have an escape route

Other teams will eventually want the Timberwolves’ best and most versatile player, center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns.  And if the Timberwolves roster cannot deliver post-season competition at the end of this season, some teams believe that Towns is a player they could pry away from the Timberwolves with the right offer

That is the consensus of ESPN’s NBA insider panel. But that is not the first time that was mentioned. In fact, that was first mentioned some time ago when NBA Insider Zach Lowe hosted Minnesota Timberwolves inside Jon Krawczynski months ago.

“They don’t have any plans to trade him”

Let’s review some of the key points of that podcast below:

"“Teams are already talking about it. There’s no doubt that other teams are eyeing this situation and looking to see if KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) will become available. I can tell you from everyone that I’ve talked to within the organization, they very much believe in KAT. They believe that once he comes back and they have some time to build around ANT (Anthony Edwards) and [Rudy] Gobert and KAT, they very much believe that can still work. (Timberwolves head coach) Chris Finch believes it. (Timberwolves President) Tim Connelly believes it. They don’t have any plans to trade him. But if the bottom falls out of this thing and they go forward that way, there are going to be teams knocking on the door. I do think that overall, especially locally here, there’s a lack of appreciation among fans for what Karl-Anthony Towns is as a player.” – as per Minnesota Timberwolves insider Jon Krawczynski during an appearance on Zach Lowe’s podcast."

The revelation occurred during the final games remaining during the 2022-23 NBA season, at the peak of the ‘Trade KAT’ mania that erupted when the Timberwolves truly appeared to be outside of the 2023 NBA Playoffs and looking at trying to manage low outcomes with limited draft picks and resources.

While the team had/has/will have no plans to trade him, see how quickly the discussion turns to the worst-case scenario pivots to this question: What happens next?

“There will be teams knocking on the door . . .”

Indeed there shall be.

The entire podcast can be found below:

With so much time on the topic, you can bet that the Minnesota Timberwolves front office has already hammered out various options for a Plan B. This is not an NBA franchise that is running things on the seat of their pants.