Does this trade make sense for the Minnesota Timberwolves?
In the grand scheme of things, the simple answer for the Timberwolves in this scenario is no, but quite honestly, trading Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be one of those moves in which the “writing is on the wall.” I do not expect Towns to spend his entire career in Minnesota, which raises the question of “when will Towns leave Minnesota?”
This could be down the road when his contract expires following the 2023-24 season, but by then, Towns will be 28-years-old and the best years of his career could be behind him. They most likely won’t be and he will be right in the prime of his career then, but if he remains in Minnesota through the end of his current contract, he would have spent 9 years of his career being the best player on one of the worst teams in the league.
Who knows maybe Minnesota turns things around next season and they suddenly become a force in the Western Conference, but the chances of that happening are slim right now, as this team looks like they are still a couple years away from being anything special.
Trading Towns now gives the Timberwolves the capability to not only add more young talents to their roster moving forward, but free up some cap space to potentially bring in a highly skilled veteran leader. A guy like DeMar DeRozan may not want anything to do with the Timberwolves, but he would be a great addition for them next to D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards.
Mitchell Robinson is a young, athletic center with a lot of potential to continue growing and Obi Toppin is a young, athletic forward that could excel pushing the pace of play with guys like Russell and Edwards. Kevin Knox does not present much to the Timberwolves, but who knows maybe he can turn his fortunes around and become a solid bench guy for them.
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In the end, getting three first-round draft picks and young players for a guy like Towns is definitely valuable for the Minnesota Timberwolves and is something to really consider. As Towns gets near the end of his contract, his trade value is going to begin to decline, so this may be the best offer the Timberwolves could get for Karl-Anthony Towns over the next few years.
They definitely do not want to trade him immediately this offseason, but in terms of whether or not this trade makes sense for them, it definitely does in the long-term since Towns will most likely not spend his entire career in Minnesota. He will be a name to monitor in NBA trade rumors.
