Karl-Anthony Towns reportedly unhappy in Minnesota

Will Towns be the next star to force his way out? 


Cue up the trade machine. Following in the footsteps of Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love, Karl-Anthony Towns is the latest franchise big man to be unhappy playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golden State has been "monitoring Towns' situation in Minnesota," and multiple team executives note that the young star is currently unhappy, as reported by The Athletic's Ethan Strauss. Given that Towns is only in first year of his five-year, $190 million contract extension he signed prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, the Timberwolves have no incentive to trade the big man just yet. This season hasn't gone the way Minnesota had hoped, but if it has sold Towns on getting him help over the next couple years, then it can be patient.

Of course the Warriors due all their injuries and suckitude this season will be armed with a very high lottery pick to trade. They also have D'Angelo Russell as a trade asset. Part of me though thinks something was lost in translation in the post and what the Warriors are monitoring is how desperate Minnesota will get to trade for Towns buddy Russell to pair with him and it wasn't about trading KAT.

But playing the trade game acknowledging the Wolves are under no gun to trade Towns, the Celtics also have a lottery pick at their disposal in the Memphis one. Unfortunately it still has protections this season, so it's considerably less valuable. The Celtics would need to include either Jayson Tatum or reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Jaylen Brown in any deal for Towns. And assuming the Celtics would even be interested in that, they couldn't trade Brown til this offseason due to his contract extension.

My guess here is Towns is going nowhere anytime soon. The one deal that makes sense is if the Warriors strike gold and win the lottery, then a James Wiseman/KAT deal would be very intriguing for the Wolves. But financially if you're the Warriors, it would make much more sense to have Wiseman on a rookie deal than Towns on a max deal with all your other all-stars and their huge contracts. So even that deal doesn't make much sense. Also to consider is why can't Towns lead his team to wins. He's played with some talent. Is he just aa amazing offensive big man who's defense or lack there-of prevents a team from winning?

Towns wouldn't be the first franchise big man to force his way out of Minnesota. Difference is both Kevin's were impending free agents


Most likely outcome for Towns is he plays in Minnesota for a few more seasons and then his agent eventually forces a trade to the Lakers or another "preferred" team when his contract is getting closer to expiring.

What's the most you'd offer the Wolves for Towns if you were the Celtics?