{"id":113187,"date":"2024-12-19T11:47:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=113187"},"modified":"2024-12-19T11:50:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:50:18","slug":"karl-anthony-towns-returns-to-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/19\/karl-anthony-towns-returns-to-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"Karl-Anthony Towns Returns to Minnesota After Controversial Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s going to be an emotional night at Target Center. The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft,\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> returns to the city that took a chance on the Kentucky Wildcat, where he would spend nine seasons with the franchise.\u00a0Towns stuck around through the lows and was a huge component of the rebuilding process, which led them to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2004.\u00a0Let\u2019s take a trip down memory lane to look back on Town\u2019s time with the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns Returns to Minnesota After Controversial Trade<\/h2>\n

How it All Began<\/b><\/h3>\n

After Andrew Wiggins<\/a> was selected 1st overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, Minnesota wasted no time by sending All-Star power forward Kevin Love<\/a> to Cleveland in exchange for Wiggins. Then, they turned around and selected Towns first overall the following year. With their two cornerstones in place, the future was looking bright in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Towns seemed like the total offensive package. He was an inside-out scorer with a nice touch around the rim. He also had the opportunity to learn from Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett<\/a> since he was on the roster at the time.\u00a0Towns would quickly prove why he was the No. 1 pick. He averaged 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in the first season, which won him Rookie of the Year honors. It was the start of good things to come for the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Through Thick and Thin
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

The team had a young core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach Lavine<\/a> so after a few years, this team should be on the verge of contending, right? It didn\u2019t pan out that way in the latter half of the 2010\u2019s, as the Wolves found themselves stuck.\u00a0Zach Lavine was the first domino to fall. The Timberwolves traded the two-time slam dunk champion to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler<\/a> in 2017. Minnesota fans remember this time period all too well, but the 2017-18 season was huge for Towns.\u00a0He made his first All-Star team that year.<\/p>\n

The Butler era<\/h4>\n

During the first season with Butler, they finished with a 47-35 record, which granted them the 8th seed in the West. It was the first time Towns made the playoffs in his career and marked the first time Minnesota reached the playoffs since 2004. Towns made All-NBA third team for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n

It was a short playoff appearance as they got eliminated in five games by the Houston Rockets in the first round. Towns’ numbers slid a bit, going from averaging 21.3 points in the regular season to 15.2 points in the playoffs. Now that he had his first playoffs under his belt, things were looking good in Minnesota until it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Things crashed and burned fast during the Jimmy Butler era. Reports came out with Butler questioning the Wolves’ competitiveness,<\/a> mostly aimed at Wiggins and Towns. This also includes the infamous story of Butler beating the starters<\/a> in a scrimmage with third-string players.\u00a0It got out of hand that the Timberwolves shipped Butler off to Philadelphia in the middle of his second season with the team. Their haul included getting Jerryd Bayless<\/a>, Robert Covington<\/a>, Dario \u0160ari\u0107<\/a>, and a 2022 second-round pick. Yikes!<\/p>\n

Things only got worse as in 2020, the Timberwolves moved Andrew Wiggins to the Golden State Warriors for D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/a>, Jacob Evans<\/a>, Omari Spellman<\/a>, and a 1st round pick. After making his playoff debut in the 2018 season, Towns failed to make the playoffs for the next three years, and the Wolves were back to square one. Something needed to change, and fast.<\/p>\n

The Turning Point
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Minnesota Timberwolves finished with an abysmal 19-45 record during the 2019-20 season. Fortunately for them, that granted them the first pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. This selection changed the course of the franchise throughout the decade so far. They picked the explosive 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of Georgia Anthony Edwards<\/a>. The Wolves were looking for instant success with pairing him with Towns.<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves also struck gold late in the first round with Jaden McDaniels<\/a>. They also scooped up undrafted free agent Naz Reid,<\/a> and from there, the pieces were coming together. The process was a slow burn, but it wasn\u2019t until 2022 that the Timberwolves swung for the fences.\u00a0In July of 2022, they made a blockbuster move by trading for Rudy Gobert<\/a>. A controversial move at the time because they gave up five first-round picks. Now, Towns was playing alongside a true center and was moved to the power forward position.<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves would make another monumental trade during the season. In February of 2023, they were involved in a three-team trade with the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz (again). This time, it was D\u2019Angelo Russell being sent to the Lakers and the Timberwolves receiving Mike Conley<\/a> and Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> from the Jazz.<\/p>\n

It was definitely a big adjustment period, but the new-look Timberwolves did enough to get the 8th seed. This matched them up against the eventual NBA champions, Denver Nuggets, in the first round, where they lost in five games. Revenge would come soon, though.<\/p>\n

All Coming Together<\/b><\/h3>\n

The 2023-24 season was the most successful season in Karl-Anthony Town\u2019s career up to this point. The team finished with a 56-26 record, which had them as the third seed. This was also the season Towns scored a career-high<\/a> 62 points against the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n

In the playoffs, the Timberwolves swept the Suns in the first round, which set up a rematch against the reigning champions Denver Nuggets. Towns was tasked with guarding league MVP Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a> throughout a grueling seven-game series. The Wolves came out on top, and Towns received a lot of praise for the job he did against Joki\u0107.<\/p>\n

For the second time in franchise history, the Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, that\u2019s where their season would end. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. KAT was a big contributing factor to the team\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

In the post-game interview<\/a> after the series, Towns talked about his willingness to stick around to help the Wolves make another title run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here nine years, I would love for the tenure to keep going. I\u2019m just happy after all the years I\u2019ve been here and all the ups and downs to see the city come together so much for this team.\u201d – Karl-Anthony Towns in the postgame interview after game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

KAT Goes to the Big Apple<\/b><\/h3>\n

We all hear that the NBA is a business, and with that comes heartbreak from players and fans. When Towns got traded<\/a> to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle<\/a> and Donte DiVincenzo<\/a>, many fans were puzzled by the decision.<\/p>\n

Given Towns’ current contract and them being a second apron team with the new CBA in the way, the front office needed to make a move. Towns never made any indication that he wanted to be traded, even through the losing seasons.\u00a0Nonetheless, he got a fresh start with the Knicks, another team looking to compete for a championship. Towns has fit in with his new team seamlessly. He’s averaging 24.8 points and 13.9 rebounds.<\/p>\n

The Last Word<\/b><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s going to be tough to show how much Towns meant to Minnesota in one tribute video, but it\u2019s going to be an emotional night at Target Center. Expect a lot of Towns jerseys in the crowds and a standing ovation when he gets his name read in the starting lineup. The Knicks have a 16-10 record, and Towns would love to get a win over his former team. There\u2019s no love lost between both sides, so fans will be in for a treat tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s going to be an emotional night at Target Center. The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft,\u00a0Karl-Anthony Towns returns to the city that took a chance on the Kentucky Wildcat, where he would spend nine seasons with the franchise.\u00a0Towns stuck around through the lows and was a huge component of the rebuilding process, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5371,"featured_media":113207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,21,12],"tags":[213],"class_list":["post-113187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-knicks","tag-karl-anthony-towns"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113209,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113187\/revisions\/113209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}