KAT is a scoring prodigy

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here are the players in NBA history, regardless of age, that scored 24 PPG and posted a true shooting percentage of 60% or higher in a season:

Charles Barkley
Larry Bird
Steph Curry
Adrian Dantley
Kevin Durant
James Harden
LeBron James
Michael Jordan
Bernard King
Kawhi Leonard
Karl Malone
Kevin Martin
Kevin McHale
Reggie Miller
Yao Ming
Chris Mullin
Dirk Nowitzski
Shaquille O'Neal
Glen Rice
David Robinson
Peja Stojakovic
Amare Stoudemire
Isaiah Thomas
Kiki Vandeweghe
Karl-Anthony Towns

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here are the players that did the same thing before turning 25:

Charles Barkley
Kevin Durant
James Harden
Michael Jordan
Reggie Miller
Shaquille O'Neal
Amare Stoudemire
Kiki Vandeweghe
Karl-Anthony Towns

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Here are the players that did the same thing before turning 22:

Shaquille O'Neal
Kevin Durant
Karl-Anthony Towns

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Folks, he's going to go down as one of the greatest offensive forces in NBA history.

Now about that defense....

[Lipoli390]

KAT is our one franchise player. Yes, he's a scoring prodigy. But remember he's also a rebounding prodigy as well. Watching the way he battles mentally and physically for position down low and for rebounds tells me it's likely he'll become a good, possibly very good defender. He has that hyper-competitive streak that eventually turns great talents into great players.

[Monster]

He is special. I listened to his chat with Woj they did recently and Towns was his usual cliche self which is kinda annoying. I get the sense he is genuine it's just who he is. I also think the guy wants to be really good and puts in the work. People are comparing him defensively to KG and in a way that's not fair. KG is one of the best defenders ever. I actually think part of Towns issues are that as a defender he doesn't have overwhelming athletic ability to just overwhelm people even if he doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong the guy is a good athlete but KG was built to play basketball. What makes Towns REALLY special is his insane offensive skills combined with an above average physical profile. Defensively he isn't there yet. He will get stronger and he will work at it. He is a smart guy. He might not be one of the best defensive players of all time but he doesn't need to be that good to be a really good 2 way player and as Lipnsaid the guy rebounds the hell out of the ball and gives a lot of effort a lot of the time.

[Lipoli390]

He is special. I listened to his chat with Woj they did recently and Towns was his usual cliche self which is kinda annoying. I get the sense he is genuine it's just who he is. I also think the guy wants to be really good and puts in the work. People are comparing him defensively to KG and in a way that's not fair. KG is one of the best defenders ever. I actually think part of Towns issues are that as a defender he doesn't have overwhelming athletic ability to just overwhelm people even if he doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong the guy is a good athlete but KG was built to play basketball. What makes Towns REALLY special is his insane offensive skills combined with an above average physical profile. Defensively he isn't there yet. He will get stronger and he will work at it. He is a smart guy. He might not be one of the best defensive players of all time but he doesn't need to be that good to be a really good 2 way player and as Lipnsaid the guy rebounds the hell out of the ball and gives a lot of effort a lot of the time.

Well said, Monster. Highly talented players with high octane motors and high basketball IQ's eventually reach their potential and become elite two-way NBA players. KAT has all three things -- major talent, high octane motor and a high basketball IQ. I'm really not worried about him becoming great. My only worry is that he might eventually want to leave because of perennial losing and an overbearing head coach. But that risk is at least a year or two away.

If KAT becomes the franchise player he clearly has the potential to be, then the future is bright for the Wolves. He's in a much better situation than KG was when he was here after Marbury left. KAT has Wiggins, who should at least become a DeRozan with a 3-point shot. KAT also has LaVine who should at least become a Jamaal Crawford with a 40" vertical. Add to that a PG who is among the League's best at his position as playmaker, ballhawk and rebounder. Then there' the very solid "dirty work" guy Gorgui who Thibs loves. Add to all that a first round pick likely in the 1-8 range and nearly $30 million in cap space this summer. Hard not to see a bright future in all that. Taylor, Thibs and Layden couldn't screw this up, could they?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

He is special. I listened to his chat with Woj they did recently and Towns was his usual cliche self which is kinda annoying. I get the sense he is genuine it's just who he is. I also think the guy wants to be really good and puts in the work. People are comparing him defensively to KG and in a way that's not fair. KG is one of the best defenders ever. I actually think part of Towns issues are that as a defender he doesn't have overwhelming athletic ability to just overwhelm people even if he doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong the guy is a good athlete but KG was built to play basketball. What makes Towns REALLY special is his insane offensive skills combined with an above average physical profile. Defensively he isn't there yet. He will get stronger and he will work at it. He is a smart guy. He might not be one of the best defensive players of all time but he doesn't need to be that good to be a really good 2 way player and as Lipnsaid the guy rebounds the hell out of the ball and gives a lot of effort a lot of the time.

Well said, Monster. Highly talented players with high octane motors and high basketball IQ's eventually reach their potential and become elite two-way NBA players. KAT has all three things -- major talent, high octane motor and a high basketball IQ. I'm really not worried about him becoming great. My only worry is that he might eventually want to leave because of perennial losing and an overbearing head coach. But that risk is at least a year or two away.

If KAT becomes the franchise player he clearly has the potential to be, then the future is bright for the Wolves. He's in a much better situation than KG was when he was here after Marbury left. KAT has Wiggins, who should at least become a DeRozan with a 3-point shot. KAT also has LaVine who should at least become a Jamaal Crawford with a 40" vertical. Add to that a PG who is among the League's best at his position as playmaker, ballhawk and rebounder. Then there' the very solid "dirty work" guy Gorgui who Thibs loves. Add to all that a first round pick likely in the 1-8 range and nearly $30 million in cap space this summer. Hard not to see a bright future in all that. Taylor, Thibs and Layden couldn't screw this up, could they?

Lip, It's the Wolves. No organization in the history of the NBA has been able to turn opportunity into profound disappointment with such ease.

[Monster]

He is special. I listened to his chat with Woj they did recently and Towns was his usual cliche self which is kinda annoying. I get the sense he is genuine it's just who he is. I also think the guy wants to be really good and puts in the work. People are comparing him defensively to KG and in a way that's not fair. KG is one of the best defenders ever. I actually think part of Towns issues are that as a defender he doesn't have overwhelming athletic ability to just overwhelm people even if he doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong the guy is a good athlete but KG was built to play basketball. What makes Towns REALLY special is his insane offensive skills combined with an above average physical profile. Defensively he isn't there yet. He will get stronger and he will work at it. He is a smart guy. He might not be one of the best defensive players of all time but he doesn't need to be that good to be a really good 2 way player and as Lipnsaid the guy rebounds the hell out of the ball and gives a lot of effort a lot of the time.

Well said, Monster. Highly talented players with high octane motors and high basketball IQ's eventually reach their potential and become elite two-way NBA players. KAT has all three things -- major talent, high octane motor and a high basketball IQ. I'm really not worried about him becoming great. My only worry is that he might eventually want to leave because of perennial losing and an overbearing head coach. But that risk is at least a year or two away.

If KAT becomes the franchise player he clearly has the potential to be, then the future is bright for the Wolves. He's in a much better situation than KG was when he was here after Marbury left. KAT has Wiggins, who should at least become a DeRozan with a 3-point shot. KAT also has LaVine who should at least become a Jamaal Crawford with a 40" vertical. Add to that a PG who is among the League's best at his position as playmaker, ballhawk and rebounder. Then there' the very solid "dirty work" guy Gorgui who Thibs loves. Add to all that a first round pick likely in the 1-8 range and nearly $30 million in cap space this summer. Hard not to see a bright future in all that. Taylor, Thibs and Layden couldn't screw this up, could they?

Lip, It's the Wolves. No organization in the history of the NBA has been able to turn opportunity into profound disappointment with such ease.

Many teams with a bright future have had it go wrong. Sometimes it's bad decisions and some bad luck. They have to keep building the roster and they need to draft well and sign some players that end up being pretty good. I have faith in theses guys mostly because I do think Thibs knows what he is doing. They have brought in some highly regarded people to the organization as well so it's not just Thibs and Layden calling the shots they have a group of folks and Based on what both those guys say they will listen.

[Lipoli390]

He is special. I listened to his chat with Woj they did recently and Towns was his usual cliche self which is kinda annoying. I get the sense he is genuine it's just who he is. I also think the guy wants to be really good and puts in the work. People are comparing him defensively to KG and in a way that's not fair. KG is one of the best defenders ever. I actually think part of Towns issues are that as a defender he doesn't have overwhelming athletic ability to just overwhelm people even if he doesn't get it. Don't get me wrong the guy is a good athlete but KG was built to play basketball. What makes Towns REALLY special is his insane offensive skills combined with an above average physical profile. Defensively he isn't there yet. He will get stronger and he will work at it. He is a smart guy. He might not be one of the best defensive players of all time but he doesn't need to be that good to be a really good 2 way player and as Lipnsaid the guy rebounds the hell out of the ball and gives a lot of effort a lot of the time.

Well said, Monster. Highly talented players with high octane motors and high basketball IQ's eventually reach their potential and become elite two-way NBA players. KAT has all three things -- major talent, high octane motor and a high basketball IQ. I'm really not worried about him becoming great. My only worry is that he might eventually want to leave because of perennial losing and an overbearing head coach. But that risk is at least a year or two away.

If KAT becomes the franchise player he clearly has the potential to be, then the future is bright for the Wolves. He's in a much better situation than KG was when he was here after Marbury left. KAT has Wiggins, who should at least become a DeRozan with a 3-point shot. KAT also has LaVine who should at least become a Jamaal Crawford with a 40" vertical. Add to that a PG who is among the League's best at his position as playmaker, ballhawk and rebounder. Then there' the very solid "dirty work" guy Gorgui who Thibs loves. Add to all that a first round pick likely in the 1-8 range and nearly $30 million in cap space this summer. Hard not to see a bright future in all that. Taylor, Thibs and Layden couldn't screw this up, could they?

Lip, It's the Wolves. No organization in the history of the NBA has been able to turn opportunity into profound disappointment with such ease.

Many teams with a bright future have had it go wrong. Sometimes it's bad decisions and some bad luck. They have to keep building the roster and they need to draft well and sign some players that end up being pretty good. I have faith in theses guys mostly because I do think Thibs knows what he is doing. They have brought in some highly regarded people to the organization as well so it's not just Thibs and Layden calling the shots they have a group of folks and Based on what both those guys say they will listen.

Q -- My question was a bit tongue and cheek as you probably guessed. So yes, the Wolves ownership and front office could definitely screw this up. That's why Monster is absolutely right that our front office needs to continue building the team by drafting well and making good personnel decisions. I have no confidence in Layden given his horrific track record in New York, the one time he was in control of front office decisions. I have no idea what to expect from Thibs because he's never even been part of a front office, much less the head of one. I agree that Thibs knows basketball. But his personnel judgment is largely untested and his ability to manage a front office and negotiate with other teams is totally untested. Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic because of the core we have to work with and the assets we have - i.e., high lottery pick and lots of cap space.