It will probably be difficult for Minnesota Timberwolves fans to look back at Karl-Anthony Towns watching a Wolves preseason game after they traded him. Or recall that he wore Timberwolves-colored shoes in his first game back in Minnesota, now that he’s an NBA champion.
Towns won a championship in the same year that Sam Darnold won the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks after the Minnesota Vikings didn’t franchise tag him. He helped the Knicks win their first championship since 1973, just like David Ortiz played a crucial role on the 2004 Red Sox team that overcame the Curse of the Bambino after the Minnesota Twins moved on from him.
Four years later, Kevin Garnett was a star on the Boston Celtics team that won their first championship since 1986.
Minnesota’s best professional athletes have frequently broken “curses,” just in other cities. Towns is the latest to do so, bringing celebrities to Madison Square Garden and setting off bedlam in Gotham. He’s the latest “one who got away” in the Twin Cities.
It won’t make anyone feel any better that Towns defended Victor Wembanyama effectively while acting as New York’s offensive hub. Meanwhile, Rudy Gobert struggled to defend Wembanyama in Round 2, and Julius Randle stopped driving the half-court offense for the Wolves, who lack a traditional point guard.
Towns would offer the Wolves exactly what they need. However, he developed into that player in New York. Towns left Minnesota a poor defender who fouled frequently. But as he enters his 30s, Towns has become a high-IQ offensive player who can decode other teams’ defenses, while holding his own on the defensive end.
It’s also important to place the Towns trade in context. After signing a new collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association, the NBA implemented a “second apron” on its salary cap. In doing so, the league placed draft restrictions and trade restrictions on teams that exceed a payroll threshold.
The second apron system forced teams to build two-star rosters, whereas before the best teams typically had three. A year after Towns had helped lift the Wolves past the Denver Nuggets and to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2003, they had to choose whether to keep him or Gobert.
In 2022, the Wolves had made a blockbuster trade for Gobert. They hoped he’d allow them to go on a playoff run, while creating a winning environment for Anthony Edwards.
Minnesota’s two-big system got off to an inauspicious start. However, the team started to gel in 2023 and went on its first Western Conference Finals. The sportsbooks favored the Wolves over the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, but Minnesota came up short.
A year later, they had to decide whether to keep Towns or Gobert.
Without the second apron system, the Wolves likely would have retained Gobert until Towns developed defensively. Gobert has anchored Minnesota’s defense since arriving, but Towns guarded Jokic in 2023 while Gobert acted as the roamer, picking up anybody who penetrated the first line of defense. It was his first step toward becoming the player he is with the Knicks.
Moving on from Gobert would have been easier as he aged and Towns entered his prime. Had the Wolves traded Gobert after the league implemented the second apron tax system in 2023, their defense may have fallen apart. They wouldn’t have been able to reach the Western Conference Final again, and may have become a first-round playoff team again.
Still, the Timberwolves moved on from Towns, a player who would have solved many of their current issues. They didn’t outright release a Hall of Famer, as the Twins did with David Ortiz. There was no “second apron” tax system when the Wolves traded Kevin Garnett. The Vikings didn’t send Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders to alleviate cap issues, and they could have franchise-tagged Sam Darnold.
However, no matter the context for the Towns trade, the Timberwolves ultimately moved on from a player who would fill two crucial roles. To make matters worse, he’s a star who wanted to play in Minnesota. It’s why it’s hard to watch that video of him watching a Wolves preseason game again and not wonder what he could have become here.
