Good read on Towns

[Porckchop]

1. Karl-Anthony Towns, unguardable

The Timberwolves have petered out amid injuries and a hail of enemy 3-pointers, but beleaguered Minny fans can take heart in these two realities:

o Towns has posted up more than any player since the Jimmy Butler trade;

o The Wolves have scored at a rate of a top-3 offense with Towns on the floor since December.

Towns is the league's best hope for a sustainable, old school-ish inside-out offense -- even a tick above Joel Embiid. He can do pretty much anything from any spot below the foul line, and that versatility makes him unguardable one-on-one. He is a slightly better passer than Embiid, with a lower turnover rate.

Towns is slinging about four assists per game since the Butler deal, up from about 2.5 before. He is patient reading help schemes, watching cutters whir around, and firing crosscourt passes that travel one link further along the chain than the defense expects:


Towns is averaging 35 points per game on 60 percent shooting since the All-Star break. It has been a joke watching teams try to guard him. Only foul trouble can stop him. He is on pace for a second consecutive 50-40 shooting season, and he is a slightly improved free throw stroke -- 84 percent career -- from becoming the second big man ever to post a 50-40-90 season. (You know the other guy.)

The Wolves have poured in 1.2 points per possession on any trip featuring a Towns post-up since the Butler deal, one of the best marks in the league, per Second Spectrum. Consider that Robert Covington, Jeff Teague, Andrew Wiggins, Derrick Rose, and Tyus Jones all missed significant chunks of that time. Imagine when Towns can pass to more starter-level players?

He's still not good enough on defense, but when he tries, he's solid. On the other end, he's an undisputed foundational superstar.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

He's an offensive monster. Of the 34 players averaging 20 PPG or more, he's got the 3rd best TS%. Volume and efficiency. And now we're starting to see his passing skills. As long as he's on the team, we have the ability to be an upper level offense. But none of it matters if no one can or wants to defend. Then we're just like New Orleans with AD.

[Monster]

Not sure the origin of this story but I saw Dane Moore teasing his column and he showed Towm's PPP in the pick and roll and it was better than Jokic and Embiid. Towns screen game has taken an absolutely massive leap. There are times lately where he has burned a guy with a screen and looked like a real big in that regard. Towns was moving in the right direction and was being utilized more before the coaching change but he has been featured and has been really going bonkers the last few months with Ryan as coach. It shouldn't be that hard to coach Towns but it's something.

To me the difference between Towns now and preciously is he just looks like he is more of a star player. He is even more decisive offensively. He also seems to be putting forth a little more juice in terms of effort overall. His defense is waning but I feel a lot better about it than I did a year ago. He needs to cut back on his fouls on both ends of the court but he is a monster offensively.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Throw the house at the Wizards and push the chips in for Bradley Beal this summer.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

This was Zach Lowe's 10 things column on Friday. He also ripped Teague pretty good for being like Wiggins, not engaged and disappearing on the court.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Would Washington take a nibble at this?

- 2019 first-round pick (unprotected)
- 2021 first-round pick (top-five protected)
- SG Josh Okogie (1-yr + 2, $9.6M remaining)
- PG Jeff Teague (1-yr, $19M remaining)
- SG/SF Andrew Wiggins (4-yr, $122.5M remaining)

- SG Bradley Beal (2-yr, $56M remaining)
- C Ian Mahinmi (1-yr, $15.5M remaining)

[mjs34]

Would Washington take a nibble at this?

- 2019 first-round pick (unprotected)
- 2021 first-round pick (top-five protected)
- SG Josh Okogie (1-yr + 2, $9.6M remaining)
- PG Jeff Teague (1-yr, $19M remaining)
- SG/SF Andrew Wiggins (4-yr, $122.5M remaining)

- SG Bradley Beal (2-yr, $56M remaining)
- C Ian Mahinmi (1-yr, $15.5M remaining)

Count me in. Not sure that they bite mainly because they still have Wall's deal so not sure they are ready to rebuild, but it does give them a little of both.

[Monster]

Would Washington take a nibble at this?

- 2019 first-round pick (unprotected)
- 2021 first-round pick (top-five protected)
- SG Josh Okogie (1-yr + 2, $9.6M remaining)
- PG Jeff Teague (1-yr, $19M remaining)
- SG/SF Andrew Wiggins (4-yr, $122.5M remaining)

- SG Bradley Beal (2-yr, $56M remaining)
- C Ian Mahinmi (1-yr, $15.5M remaining)

Count me in. Not sure that they bite mainly because they still have Wall's deal so not sure they are ready to rebuild, but it does give them a little of both.

Is that better than what someone else could offer? You can bet IF they were willing to move him there would be some big time offers for Beal who has turned into a really damn good player....which is partly why I doubt Washington is going to give him up until they are forced to.

[ItsJustSoSab]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26262545/ten-things-like-including-towns-absurd-scoring

This is not the first time Zach has praised Towns. Hopefully, not the last time either. As Jerry pointed out, he also ctitizizes Teague for the same things we rip him for. It's a really good read, Zach has other observations about multiple more Wolves. These probably won't come as a surprise to us who actively pay attention to the Wolves, but it is nice to get some confirmation from a good sports writer

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Would Washington take a nibble at this?

- 2019 first-round pick (unprotected)
- 2021 first-round pick (top-five protected)
- SG Josh Okogie (1-yr + 2, $9.6M remaining)
- PG Jeff Teague (1-yr, $19M remaining)
- SG/SF Andrew Wiggins (4-yr, $122.5M remaining)

- SG Bradley Beal (2-yr, $56M remaining)
- C Ian Mahinmi (1-yr, $15.5M remaining)

Count me in. Not sure that they bite mainly because they still have Wall's deal so not sure they are ready to rebuild, but it does give them a little of both.

Is that better than what someone else could offer? You can bet IF they were willing to move him there would be some big time offers for Beal who has turned into a really damn good player....which is partly why I doubt Washington is going to give him up until they are forced to.

Maybe, but you can't really GM like that. Can't manage your roster and anticipate being outbid by other teams in trade negotiations or even in free agency. Not to mention the Wizards are the ones evaluating the return. What if they see Donovan Mitchell potential in Josh Okogie? What if they still believe in Andrew Wiggins? My point is that you can't take yourself out of the bidding process beforehand.

And if you can generate interest with an offer -- ie. get a nibble, as I said -- then you can go from there and figure out exactly what they'd let him go for. That's how you play the game.