Timberwolves

What KAT Can Learn From Devin Booker

Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns were a bubble play-in team two years ago. They went 8-0 in the bubble and suddenly looked like they were putting it together. Although they didn’t make the playoffs that year, Phoenix’s bubble run proved to be extremely important to their future success.

Devin Booker was once labeled as an empty stats player by many NBA fans. Now he’s become a Suns legend following a historic playoff run in the 2021 postseason. This year, he led Phoenix to a 64-win season, their most successful regular season of all time.

His name now sits alongside all-time Phoenix legends like Steve Nash, Charles Barkley, Shawn Marion, and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Now Devin Booker’s Kentucky running mate is looking to pave his own path into Minnesota Timberwolves history. Although Towns has made the playoffs once before in his career, that was largely Jimmy Butler’s team. This year it’s different. Towns is the best player on this roster, the clear No. 1. It’s time for him to lead. What does he need to do to have a Booker-like change in trajectory?

Like Booker 2021, this is Karl’s first playoff run with expectations. The Tom Thibodeau-Jimmy Butler Wolves didn’t look built to last in 2017-18. They were quickly dispatched by the Houston Rockets, 4-1, and dissolved the following year.

Expectations are much higher this year. As the 2-seed, the Memphis Grizzlies are favored in this matchup. But some pundits have the Wolves winning the series. At the very least, nobody would be happy with a gentleman’s sweep.

With this added pressure, Towns must perform. He can’t perform like he did against the Los Angeles Clippers in the play-in.

It seemed like he was turning it around after Game 1. Towns had a dominant performance, scoring 29 points. Perhaps more importantly, he played 42 minutes while only committing 3 fouls.

Pundits criticized Towns for his play against Houston in the playoffs. But he looked like he was ready to shed that label against Memphis. Unfortunately, the Wolves got blown out 124-96 in Game 2. Towns only had 11 points, but the loss wasn’t on him. He didn’t play particularly well, but neither did anyone else. The entire team was blamed for the loss, hardly a knock on KAT’s legacy.

Then the Wolves blew two 25-point leads in Game 3

Towns played poorly in the 104-95 loss, finishing with more fouls than baskets scored. Fans who haven’t watched KAT play since the Butler days continued to see what Jimmy shouted on his way out of Minnesota. They see Towns as the same player he was four years ago. He was still the supposed immature, soft, and unfixable player Butler proclaimed him as after their practice dispute.

However, he’s not the same KAT.

Recency bias suggests that he can’t lead this team. Although he played poorly in the playoffs, he just led the Wolves to their best season in four years. Karl can have a bad playoff game in a perfect world and still be respected.  However, Towns has to play nearly perfectly in this run to begin to turn around his playoff reputation.

We’ve seen the timeline for players increase dramatically in the last decade. If a player doesn’t immediately succeed, fans and the media quickly give up on them. However, players like D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, and Darius Garland have all blossomed after being given up on early in their careers.

Booker appeared to be on a similar trajectory. Many fans cited him as an empty stats player, saying he wasn’t a top-3 shooting guard. Now if you leave Devin Booker off your top 3, “you don’t know ball,” as the kids say.

Karl-Anthony Towns is in a similar boat. After seven years in the league, many fans think it’s time for him to step up. If he continues to play like he did in Games 2 and 3, his reputation will be permanently harmed.

On the other hand, if Towns can get back to dominating like he did in Game 1. The critics will see him in a different light.

I still believe Karl-Anthony Towns is a top-3 center in the league. His talent level is one of the highest in the league at any position. Towns just needs to put these games behind him, learn from the past matchups and “go home, drink some wine.”

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