After three miserable playoff games, Karl-Anthony Towns put together the best game of his short playoff career on Saturday, finishing with 33 points and 14 rebounds at 47 percent Shoot. And wouldn’t you know, the Timberwolves won the game and broke the series 2-2. Much has been written about Towns’ personal struggles as he lost eight relatives to Covid, including his mother. A measure of grace should be bestowed on the young star on what is sure to be a difficult mental and emotional journey.
But Towns’ playoff struggles and lack of ability to make the playoffs have plagued him since the five-game series in 2018 against the Houston Rockets. In that series, cities averaged 15 and 13, shooting a horrible 27 percent from the perimeter. He hadn’t played much better in three games before Saturday’s win. After dropping 29 points in game one, he was followed by a 15-point loss in game 2 and then a shocking eight-point performance in game three.
So far, Towns has only made the playoffs twice in his seven-year career. Not everything is his fault. For nearly two decades, the TWolves have been one of the worst-run franchises in all of the sport. They’ve routinely botched trades (almost every trade since KAT was drafted, except for the two that got them D’Angelo Russell and Patrick Beverley), smelled draft picks (Kris Dunn, Josh Okogie, Leandro Bolmaro) and the wrong ones coach hired. But as the team’s top player, Towns has consistently failed to pull the team onto their backs and lead them to the playoffs. When they finally returned to the playoffs in 2018 after missing the postseason for 14 years, it was behind Jimmy Butler’s lead and game as Butler ended his short stint with the TWolves as the top scorer.
This year it was the game of the sophomore Anthony Edwards that catapulted the Timberwolves back into the playoffs. Towns may have led the team as the top scorer in the regular season, but Edwards is the top scorer in the playoffs and was phenomenal against the Grizzlies. This is the second time Owns has been beaten by a teammate in playoff time. This, coupled with his inability to make the playoffs at a consistent pace, has altered his status as the number one option. It’s time to face the hard truth: The #1 overall 2015 player may not be the franchise player we thought he was. That’s not to say he’s not a star, his offensive repertoire proves he’s an elite weapon in that regard.
But the lack of playoff appearances and poor play when they do mean that Towns is best used in a supporting role. There’s no shame in being a second star on a competing team. Many great players have filled that role as championship winners. Current All-Stars like Pau Gasol, Kevin Love and Anthony Davis have gone from being “the man” on their own teams to being a true alpha sidekick second fiddle. Davis was named to the Top 75 Anniversary Team. Love and Gasol posted smashing stats, forming all-star teams with Minnesota and Memphis, respectively. These guys were beasts as a main gear but couldn’t consistently reach or make noise in the playoffs. Before winning two championships alongside Kobe Bryant, Gasol was swept in the first round with Memphis three straight years. Davis made the playoffs twice in seven seasons with New Orleans and reached the second round only once. Love didn’t live to see the playoffs at all until joining LeBron James and the Cavaliers after six lost seasons in Minnesota. But once they achieved Robin status, they adjusted their games and won a title. Perhaps the best example is Chris Bosh, who only made the playoffs twice in seven years with Toronto. After joining Dwyane Wade and LeBron James in Miami, he improved his three-point shooting and became the ground clearance center in Miami’s small-ball lineup of death, which helped win two championships.
There’s no shame in Towns having to shift the first option role to a better player. The question is whether it will happen in Minnesota or elsewhere. Edwards is looking like a future superstar in just his second season. If he continues to rise, Towns’ easiest transition would be to switch to the second option and let Edwards take over the team. It would be great to see Minnesota regain some relevance, something not seen since the days of Kevin Garnett’s dominance in the early 2000s.
Speaking of Garnett, he’s the only true number one option the TWolves have had in their franchise history. With the exception of Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell and Wally Szczerbiak, he led a roster composed mostly of role players to the 2004 Western Conference Finals. He also led the team to eight straight playoff appearances and became one of five NBA players to win both NBA Most Valuable Player Awards and NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. During his time in Minnesota, he never had the support to win a championship and had to find it afterwards, teaming up with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce in Boston. If this current TWolves roster can continue to be built around their two stars, they might have something special. The dynamic duo of Edwards and Towns could be the best TWolves squad in their 33-year history, along with D’Angelo Russell, Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley.
To achieve this, the pecking order between Edwards and Towns must be restored. Towns will have to accept his role as a secondary star and let Edwards, who is better suited for those moments anyway, do the late-game shooting. Towns is still the best player in the 2015 lottery and second best overall player after Devin Booker. He’s carved out an All-Star level career while surrounded by terrible rosters and front office dysfunction in Minnesota. He has remained loyal to the franchise, rarely complaining and repeatedly stating that he wants to bring a championship to the TWolves in the small market. For such a miracle to happen, it might require the ultimate sacrifice of Town’s ego.
