This is one of the best articles on KAT I've read over the years. I think KAT is widely under-appreciated by local fans, including some on this message board. He brings some of that on himself with his whining on the court and his sometimes awkward, contrived comments off the court. But all players are flawed in some way or another. At the end of the day, KAT is a superstar and we're really fortunate to have him on the Wolves.
The next step for KAT is to be a winner. What we've seen so far is that he wins when he has some decent talent around him. Butler comes in and the Wolves make the playoffs. Edwards starts maturing into a really good NBA player last season and the Wolves not only make the playoffs but push the 2nd-seed in the West to 6 games. Now KAT will have Gobert as well as an even more mature, experienced Edwards. Hopefully, he'll also have a more consistent and healthy DLO. Add a more mature, experienced McDaniels and Nowell as well as Kyle Anderson and who knows what KAT's team will achieve next season.
Yeah, we know what KAT is at this point. He's a top 15 player and probably will never be more than that. In today's NBA, a guy that isn't among the top 4 or 5 players league-wide can't really take an entire team on his back and get them to win consistently.
I'm not counting on him maturing at this point. Seems like he'll always be a bit of a whiner and drama-queen, but I'm hoping Gobert's presence creates less of those in-game meltdowns because he's not having to tussle with opposing bigs as much.
I'd consider KAT at top 10 player and I still think he can get better. There are very few players today who can carry their respective teams on their backs: Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Luka and Steph Curry. Other than those five, I don't think there's another player in the League, other than maybe Tatum or Butler, who is clearly better than KAT. I'd put KAT in the 7-10 range.
Lip, here are the players I'd rank above KAT. I will put them in groupings rather than try to rank order them from 1 to N.
True Bigs - Embiid, Jokic
Bigs with elite perimeter skills - Durant, LeBron, Giannis, Luka
Wings - Kawhi, Butler, Tatum
Guards - Curry, Trae Young
That's 11 guys that I think clearly impact the game more than KAT. You could argue guys like Chris Paul, Ja Morant, Paul George, Damien Lilllard, Kyrie Irving, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Jarrett Allen, and Rudy Gobert are in a similar tier as KAT. Some slightly better, some slightly worse.
Thus I put him in the top 15.
This is a nitpick but I don't think Luka has the length to be a called a big with Elite guard skills. He is a unique player and I get why you put him in that category. The reality is I think he is guard or wing that rebounds REALLY well.
Overall you point still stands putting Towns as a top 15 player. That's actually pretty significant for him because it wasn't that long ago he wasn't at that level even though the talent was there.
Yeah, I guess I'm thinking of what role he played in last year's playoffs and he was generally the 2nd biggest guy in all the 5-man lineups he was on for Dallas. He was either paired with Powell or Kleber at Center, so he in effect was the PF on defense, with Bullock and DFS playing more as defensive wings. But he could just as well be put in the Wings or Guards category by virtue of how unique he is.
This is one of the best articles on KAT I've read over the years. I think KAT is widely under-appreciated by local fans, including some on this message board. He brings some of that on himself with his whining on the court and his sometimes awkward, contrived comments off the court. But all players are flawed in some way or another. At the end of the day, KAT is a superstar and we're really fortunate to have him on the Wolves.
The next step for KAT is to be a winner. What we've seen so far is that he wins when he has some decent talent around him. Butler comes in and the Wolves make the playoffs. Edwards starts maturing into a really good NBA player last season and the Wolves not only make the playoffs but push the 2nd-seed in the West to 6 games. Now KAT will have Gobert as well as an even more mature, experienced Edwards. Hopefully, he'll also have a more consistent and healthy DLO. Add a more mature, experienced McDaniels and Nowell as well as Kyle Anderson and who knows what KAT's team will achieve next season.
Yeah, we know what KAT is at this point. He's a top 15 player and probably will never be more than that. In today's NBA, a guy that isn't among the top 4 or 5 players league-wide can't really take an entire team on his back and get them to win consistently.
I'm not counting on him maturing at this point. Seems like he'll always be a bit of a whiner and drama-queen, but I'm hoping Gobert's presence creates less of those in-game meltdowns because he's not having to tussle with opposing bigs as much.
I'd consider KAT at top 10 player and I still think he can get better. There are very few players today who can carry their respective teams on their backs: Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Luka and Steph Curry. Other than those five, I don't think there's another player in the League, other than maybe Tatum or Butler, who is clearly better than KAT. I'd put KAT in the 7-10 range.
Lip, here are the players I'd rank above KAT. I will put them in groupings rather than try to rank order them from 1 to N.
True Bigs - Embiid, Jokic
Bigs with elite perimeter skills - Durant, LeBron, Giannis, Luka
Wings - Kawhi, Butler, Tatum
Guards - Curry, Trae Young
That's 11 guys that I think clearly impact the game more than KAT. You could argue guys like Chris Paul, Ja Morant, Paul George, Damien Lilllard, Kyrie Irving, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Jarrett Allen, and Rudy Gobert are in a similar tier as KAT. Some slightly better, some slightly worse.
Thus I put him in the top 15.
I agree with you on Kawhi. I forgot about him. But no way I'd out Trae Young above KAT. I'd put the LeBron of a few years ago in the top 10, but not the current version. That put KAT in the 8-10 range on my list,
This is one of the best articles on KAT I've read over the years. I think KAT is widely under-appreciated by local fans, including some on this message board. He brings some of that on himself with his whining on the court and his sometimes awkward, contrived comments off the court. But all players are flawed in some way or another. At the end of the day, KAT is a superstar and we're really fortunate to have him on the Wolves.
The next step for KAT is to be a winner. What we've seen so far is that he wins when he has some decent talent around him. Butler comes in and the Wolves make the playoffs. Edwards starts maturing into a really good NBA player last season and the Wolves not only make the playoffs but push the 2nd-seed in the West to 6 games. Now KAT will have Gobert as well as an even more mature, experienced Edwards. Hopefully, he'll also have a more consistent and healthy DLO. Add a more mature, experienced McDaniels and Nowell as well as Kyle Anderson and who knows what KAT's team will achieve next season.
Yeah, we know what KAT is at this point. He's a top 15 player and probably will never be more than that. In today's NBA, a guy that isn't among the top 4 or 5 players league-wide can't really take an entire team on his back and get them to win consistently.
I'm not counting on him maturing at this point. Seems like he'll always be a bit of a whiner and drama-queen, but I'm hoping Gobert's presence creates less of those in-game meltdowns because he's not having to tussle with opposing bigs as much.
I'd consider KAT at top 10 player and I still think he can get better. There are very few players today who can carry their respective teams on their backs: Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, Luka and Steph Curry. Other than those five, I don't think there's another player in the League, other than maybe Tatum or Butler, who is clearly better than KAT. I'd put KAT in the 7-10 range.
Lip, here are the players I'd rank above KAT. I will put them in groupings rather than try to rank order them from 1 to N.
True Bigs - Embiid, Jokic
Bigs with elite perimeter skills - Durant, LeBron, Giannis, Luka
Wings - Kawhi, Butler, Tatum
Guards - Curry, Trae Young
That's 11 guys that I think clearly impact the game more than KAT. You could argue guys like Chris Paul, Ja Morant, Paul George, Damien Lilllard, Kyrie Irving, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, Jarrett Allen, and Rudy Gobert are in a similar tier as KAT. Some slightly better, some slightly worse.
Thus I put him in the top 15.
I agree with you on Kawhi. I forgot about him. But no way I'd out Trae Young above KAT. I'd put the LeBron of a few years ago in the top 10, but not the current version. That put KAT in the 8-10 range on my list,
Well, we'll agree to disagree then. I realize he's a generational talent in terms of his shooting/efficiency, but without being able to have the ball in his hands at the end of games and make plays, it somewhat limits his offensive dominance (not to mention all the times he's in foul trouble). And he simply doesn't make up for it on the defensive end. But that's just me and at the end of the day there isn't a big difference between top 8-10 and top 15.
Q - I don't think we're that far apart. I see six players in the NBA who are clearly franchise guys who can carry their teams: Giannis, Jokic, Luka, Embiid, Curry and Kawhi. I forgot about Kawhi in my first post on this topic. LeBron and Durant used to be at that level, but I don't think they are anymore. If you include them, then there are 8 special players in what I'd consider the top grouping of carry-the-team franchise players. After that, I think the field is wide open for ranking and KAT is in the mix. Top 15 is a fair ranking for KAT, but I think there's a good argument for considering him a top 10 or at least top 12. Of course I'm quibbling.
You do make a really good point about the value of a ball-handler who can make end-of-game plays with the ball in his hands. That probably puts Butler and Tatum above Towns, but I think Towns has the ability to do more with the ball in his hands than we've seen. Nevertheless, your point is a good one and it's the reason I favor guards and ball-handling wings over bigs for my top players. It goes to my concern about the Gobert-KAT pairing. I question having max money tied up in two bigs who depend on others to facilitate their offense. Again, I think KAT's skill with the ball is what makes me think it might work. In my view, KAT has the skills to be at the same level as Jokic. KAT is actually a better three-point shooter and a better ball-handler. He's not as good a passer/playmaker as Jokic and he doesn't seem to have the mental focus and toughness of Jokic.
It will be interesting to see if KAT takes another significant step forward this season. I think where we disagree is that I think KAT can take that additional step forward in his game while you don't. We'll soon see.
KAT back after what sounds like a really bad infection that put him in the hospital (???). He said today that he had "more drastic things to worry about than basketball", yet didn't want to get into specifics.
Glad he's getting better but.....there is always some kind of drama with him!
Hard for me to put anyone in the top 10 who has had zero playoff success. His offensive skill set is top 10, but I think he settles in around 15 in terms of league rating. When he gets his emotions under control (if) he will begin to ascend higher.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:Hard for me to put anyone in the top 10 who has had zero playoff success. His offensive skill set is top 10, but I think he settles in around 15 in terms of league rating. When he gets his emotions under control (if) he will begin to ascend higher.
Yep. Getting his emotions in check is absolutely the key for KAT to take his game to the next level.
Q-was-here wrote:KAT back after what sounds like a really bad infection that put him in the hospital (???). He said today that he had "more drastic things to worry about than basketball", yet didn't want to get into specifics.
Glad he's getting better but.....there is always some kind of drama with him!
I'm not going to hop on the KAT's a drama queen train this time. KAT was hospitalized because of a serious infection that apparently impeded his breathing. I know his comment might seem unnecessarily dramatic, but I'll cut him slack. He was hospitalized for what had to be a really serious infection. His comment about having more drastic things to worry about was a past-tense reference to when he was sick. Here's the rest of what KAT said: "I wasn't too worried about basketball for a while. But I miss the game. I love the game. I miss these guys. Sick and tired of recovering at the house and not being able to leave and do anything," said Towns, who's entering his eighth NBA season. That's not drama queen stuff; it's just an honest reflection.
I think it's Kats defense that is holding him back from being a top 5 offensive player in the league. His tendency to rack up early fouls puts him on the bench toosoon. It's impressive how productive he actually is considering the fact that catching a rhythm thruout the course of the game is hampered by him being pulled from premium lineups so often. It really puts pressure on the coaches intended game plans when Kat sits 5-10 minutes longer than was expected. Does putting him out on the perimeter guarding PFs remedy that issue or does it worry you guys that the foul trouble could get worse?
Q-was-here wrote:KAT back after what sounds like a really bad infection that put him in the hospital (???). He said today that he had "more drastic things to worry about than basketball", yet didn't want to get into specifics.
Glad he's getting better but.....there is always some kind of drama with him!
I'm not going to hop on the KAT's a drama queen train this time. KAT was hospitalized because of a serious infection that apparently impeded his breathing. I know his comment might seem unnecessarily dramatic, but I'll cut him slack. He was hospitalized for what had to be a really serious infection. His comment about having more drastic things to worry about was a past-tense reference to when he was sick. Here's the rest of what KAT said: "I wasn't too worried about basketball for a while. But I miss the game. I love the game. I miss these guys. Sick and tired of recovering at the house and not being able to leave and do anything," said Towns, who's entering his eighth NBA season. That's not drama queen stuff; it's just an honest reflection.
I'm not suggesting that KAT didn't legitimately have something wrong with him, but it just seems like there is always something with him, whether it's within his control or not. And the drama always seems to center on his suffering some type of injury (in the broadest sense of the word - physical, emotional, ego - think Jimmy Butler-gate, etc.). Sometimes he manufactures his own drama and other times the drama comes to him. The good news is it's never any sort of legal drama!
