The departure of Karl-Anthony Towns completely changed the outlook for the Minnesota Timberwolves' upcoming season. A team prepared to run back its Western Conference Finals roster suddenly was rocked by a roster-altering trade that sent KAT to New York and made the coaching staff's jobs that much more difficult with less than a month remaining until the regular season opener.
Wolves fans are still mourning the loss of their former franchise player. The team has lots of exciting new talent, but seeing Towns in a uniform other than Minnesota's still does not feel right, and it is obviously taking some time to get used to. But in watching KAT suit up for the Knicks in preseason, there has been a particularly annoying trend that Timberwolves fans have picked up on so far.
There was always a perception that Towns did not necessarily get his fair share of calls while in Minnesota. Playing a lot in the low post, KAT takes a lot of bumps but did not always get the accompanying whistle. But it appears that so far during his time with the Knicks, that trend may be reversing itself.
KAT is already getting a big market whistle in New York
In New York's Wednesday night preseason win over the Washington Wizards, Towns finished with a game-high 11 free throw attempts, of which he sank 10. This comes one game after his preseason debut against the Charlotte Hornets, in which he accumulated a game-high six attempts from the charity stripe, nailing five.
This is already becoming a noticeable trend, and KAT made his official preseason debut with the Knicks less than four days ago. To put these numbers from his two games with New York so far, we should dive deeper into his typical free throw rate. The most free throws Towns averaged per game in a season came during the 2019-20 year, when he got 6.5 attempts from the line per night in 35 games.
KAT's 11 free throws attempted against the Wizards on Wednesday ranks higher than all but one game he played during the regular season for the Timberwolves last year. The only game Towns got 11 or more free throw attempts during the entire 2023-24 season was on January 22 of this year when Minnesota hosted Charlotte.
You can believe this is something that Wolves fans have already taken note of on social media. As a small market team, Minnesota and their players are often overlooked. For KAT to switch markets and begin playing for one of the biggest brands in the NBA and immediately begin getting more calls, it is an extremely frustrating experience for those cheering from the Twin Cities.