Karl Anthony Towns

[Lipoli390]

I think all of us would probably agree that Butler is the best player on the Wolves right now. He's the team's leader. He's the guy who does it all on both ends. He's the guy who gets the big buckets in crunch time. He's the guy who puts the team on his back down the stretch and carries the team to wins it would not otherwise get.

But I thought it was time to take an honest look at KAT, based squarely on the objective evidence -- namely his stats compared to those of his teammates. Here's what the evidence shows when KAT is compared to his teammates who have played in at least 20 games and averaged at least 15 minutes per game:

1. He's #1 in rebounds at 11.5 per game, which is substantially above the team's number 2 rebounder, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 8 per game.

2. He's #1 in blocks per game at 1.5, ahead of the team's number 2 shot-blocker, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 0.7.

3. He's #1 in 3-point shooting at 40.4%, which put's him among the League's elite 3-point shooters as measured by percentage and well ahead of the team's next best 3-point shooter, Jeff Teague, who's been averaging 37.5%.

4. He's #1 in true shooting percentage (TS) at 62.9%, followed by Taj at 61.3%,

5. He's #1 in effective shooting percentage (EFG) at 58.5%, followed by Taj at 57.9%

6. He's #1 in PER at 23.22, followed by Butler at 21.35. No one else on the teams comes remotely close two these two guys in PER. I believe the next closest has a PER of a little over 17.

7. He's #2 in points per game at 20.4, slightly behind Butler but he's actually scoring more than Butler on a per minute basis.

8. He's #2 in overall offensive rating (ORTG) at 120.3, which is less than Taj's 12.9 but slightly ahead of Butler's 120.0.

9. He's #3 in free throw attempts at 4.5, almost tied with Wiggins' 4.6 for #2

10. He's #3 in FT percentage at a very nice 82.8%, not far behind Crawford and Butler. (Note; Tyus is actually #3 in FT%, but I didn't count him because he's averaged only 0.8 attempts per game).

11. He's #7 in defensive rating (DRTG) at 108. Obviously, this is where he comes up short. Butler, Taj, Teague and Wiggins all have better defensive ratings among the five starters. The good news is that KAT's defensive rating is slightly better than D'Andre Jordan's. The bad news is that KAT still has a long way to go defensively to become the elite player he clearly has the potential to be.

So there you have it. Statistically, KAT probably ranks as the Wolves 2nd best player. It's the analysis beyond the numbers that tells us Butler's our best player. But KAT isn't far behind and much of what he does gets overlooked by many. And as Jim Peterson has said repeatedly, a lot of KAT's defensive struggles have resulted from poor perimeter defense. He's 22 years old in his 3rd NBA season after one year in college in which he actually didn't play a lot of minutes compared to some other college stars like Wiggins. So he's still relatively early in his development.

Bottom line is this. We have a great "do-it-all" player in Butler - 28 years old and at the peak of his career. He's our undisputed team leader and definitely our best player in my view. But we have another terrific player who isn't that far from becoming great in Karl Anthony Towns as evidenced by his stats across the board in nearly every facet of the game even though he's years away from his prime. So as disappointed as most of us are (and should be) in Wiggins, we can be thankful that Flip Saunders got over his man-crush on Okafor and took KAT with the top pick in the 2015 NBA draft. And as down as we might be about giving Wiggins a max contract, we should feel very comfortable with and thankful for the max extension KAT is almost certain to get next summer/fall.

[kekgeek]

I think all of us would probably agree that Butler is the best player on the Wolves right now. He's the team's leader. He's the guy who does it all on both ends. He's the guy who gets the big buckets in crunch time. He's the guy who puts the team on his back down the stretch and carries the team to wins it would not otherwise get.

But I thought it was time to take an honest look at KAT, based squarely on the objective evidence -- namely his stats compared to those of his teammates. Here's what the evidence shows when KAT is compared to his teammates who have played in at least 20 games and averaged at least 15 minutes per game:

1. He's #1 in rebounds at 11.5 per game, which is substantially above the team's number 2 rebounder, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 8 per game.

2. He's #1 in blocks per game at 1.5, ahead of the team's number 2 shot-blocker, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 0.7.

3. He's #1 in 3-point shooting at 40.4%, which put's him among the League's elite 3-point shooters as measured by percentage and well ahead of the team's next best 3-point shooter, Jeff Teague, who's been averaging 37.5%.

4. He's #1 in true shooting percentage (TS) at 62.9%, followed by Taj at 61.3%,

5. He's #1 in effective shooting percentage (EFG) at 58.5%, followed by Taj at 57.9%

6. He's #1 in defensive rating (DRTG) at 106.7, followed by Gorgui at 108.4, Tyus at 108.9 and Jimmy at 109.3. This is perhaps the most telling stat given the level of criticism he's received from some cyber-posting fans

7. He's #1 in PER at 23.22, followed by Butler at 21.35. No one else on the teams comes remotely close two these two guys in PER. I believe the next closest has a PER of a little over 17.

8. He's #2 in points per game at 20.4, slightly behind Butler but he's actually scoring more than Butler on a per minute basis.

9. He's #2 in overall offensive rating (ORTG) at 120.3, which is less than Taj's 12.9 but slightly ahead of Butler's 120.0.

10. He's #3 in free throw attempts at 4.5, almost tied with Wiggins' 4.6 for #2

11. He's #3 in FT percentage at a very nice 82.8%, not far behind Crawford and Butler. (Note; Tyus is actually #3 in FT%, but I didn't count him because he's averaged only 0.8 attempts per game).

So there you have it. Statistically, KAT probably ranks as the Wolves best player. It's the analysis beyond the numbers that tells us Butler's our best player. But KAT isn't far behind and much of what he does gets overlooked by many. And as Jim Peterson has said repeatedly, a lot of KAT's defensive struggles have resulted from poor perimeter defense. He's 22 years old in his 3rd NBA season after one year in college in which he actually didn't play a lot of minutes compared to some other college stars like Wiggins. So he's still relatively early in his development.

Bottom line is this. We have a great "do-it-all" player in Butler - 28 years old and at the peak of his career. He's our undisputed team leader and definitely our best player in my view. But we have another truly great player in Karl Anthony Towns whose stats across the board in nearly every facet of the game could easily support an argument that he's already the team's best player even though he's years away from his prime. So as disappointed as most of us are (and should be) in Wiggins, we can be thankful that Flip Saunders got over his man-crush on Okafor and took KAT with the top pick in the 2015 NBA draft. And as down as we might be about giving Wiggins a max contract, we should feel very comfortable with and thankful for the max extension KAT is almost certain to get next summer/fall.

Curious where you got your D rating number because based on NBA.COM he is 7th in def rating behind jimmy, Belly, taj, tyus, wiggins and teague.

I do think he has played a lot better lately on the defensive end though.

I think we do take what he does for granted though he is a beast and puts up numbers almost every night.

One thing about him it feels like his game goes when the game is on the line. He is shooting 32% and 33% from 3 when the game is under 5 minutes and there is a 5 pt or less difference. 7th on the team. Compared to Wiggins who is shooting 48% in clutch situations.

Towns has also shot a grand total 1 FT all season in clutch situations (21 games)

We are seeing flashes of a 2 way player but he still does some stupid things but we should not take for granted what Kat brings to the table.

Towns is easily a max player and is the 2nd best player on this team

But Butler is by far our best player in my opinion

[Lipoli390]

I think all of us would probably agree that Butler is the best player on the Wolves right now. He's the team's leader. He's the guy who does it all on both ends. He's the guy who gets the big buckets in crunch time. He's the guy who puts the team on his back down the stretch and carries the team to wins it would not otherwise get.

But I thought it was time to take an honest look at KAT, based squarely on the objective evidence -- namely his stats compared to those of his teammates. Here's what the evidence shows when KAT is compared to his teammates who have played in at least 20 games and averaged at least 15 minutes per game:

1. He's #1 in rebounds at 11.5 per game, which is substantially above the team's number 2 rebounder, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 8 per game.

2. He's #1 in blocks per game at 1.5, ahead of the team's number 2 shot-blocker, Taj Gibson who's been averaging 0.7.

3. He's #1 in 3-point shooting at 40.4%, which put's him among the League's elite 3-point shooters as measured by percentage and well ahead of the team's next best 3-point shooter, Jeff Teague, who's been averaging 37.5%.

4. He's #1 in true shooting percentage (TS) at 62.9%, followed by Taj at 61.3%,

5. He's #1 in effective shooting percentage (EFG) at 58.5%, followed by Taj at 57.9%

6. He's #1 in defensive rating (DRTG) at 106.7, followed by Gorgui at 108.4, Tyus at 108.9 and Jimmy at 109.3. This is perhaps the most telling stat given the level of criticism he's received from some cyber-posting fans

7. He's #1 in PER at 23.22, followed by Butler at 21.35. No one else on the teams comes remotely close two these two guys in PER. I believe the next closest has a PER of a little over 17.

8. He's #2 in points per game at 20.4, slightly behind Butler but he's actually scoring more than Butler on a per minute basis.

9. He's #2 in overall offensive rating (ORTG) at 120.3, which is less than Taj's 12.9 but slightly ahead of Butler's 120.0.

10. He's #3 in free throw attempts at 4.5, almost tied with Wiggins' 4.6 for #2

11. He's #3 in FT percentage at a very nice 82.8%, not far behind Crawford and Butler. (Note; Tyus is actually #3 in FT%, but I didn't count him because he's averaged only 0.8 attempts per game).

So there you have it. Statistically, KAT probably ranks as the Wolves best player. It's the analysis beyond the numbers that tells us Butler's our best player. But KAT isn't far behind and much of what he does gets overlooked by many. And as Jim Peterson has said repeatedly, a lot of KAT's defensive struggles have resulted from poor perimeter defense. He's 22 years old in his 3rd NBA season after one year in college in which he actually didn't play a lot of minutes compared to some other college stars like Wiggins. So he's still relatively early in his development.

Bottom line is this. We have a great "do-it-all" player in Butler - 28 years old and at the peak of his career. He's our undisputed team leader and definitely our best player in my view. But we have another truly great player in Karl Anthony Towns whose stats across the board in nearly every facet of the game could easily support an argument that he's already the team's best player even though he's years away from his prime. So as disappointed as most of us are (and should be) in Wiggins, we can be thankful that Flip Saunders got over his man-crush on Okafor and took KAT with the top pick in the 2015 NBA draft. And as down as we might be about giving Wiggins a max contract, we should feel very comfortable with and thankful for the max extension KAT is almost certain to get next summer/fall.

Curious where you got your D rating number because based on NBA.COM he is 7th in def rating behind jimmy, Belly, taj, tyus, wiggins and teague.

I do think he has played a lot better lately on the defensive end though.

I think we do take what he does for granted though he is a beast and puts up numbers almost every night.

One thing about him it feels like his game goes when the game is on the line. He is shooting 32% and 33% from 3 when the game is under 5 minutes and there is a 5 pt or less difference. 7th on the team. Compared to Wiggins who is shooting 48% in clutch situations.

Towns has also shot a grand total 1 FT all season in clutch situations (21 games)

We are seeing flashes of a 2 way player but he still does some stupid things but we should not take for granted what Kat brings to the table.

Towns is easily a max player and is the 2nd best player on this team

But Butler is by far our best player in my opinion

My bad, Geek. My defensive RTG was wrong. You've got it right. Note that I've revised my post accordingly. Nice catch.

The other stat rankings checked out when I looked again. It all makes more sense now, with a better match between the advanced stats and the eye test defensively. The good news is that KAT's defensive rating is better than D'Andre Jordan's. The bad news is that it's not where it needs to be for KAT to be considered an elite player. Tyus looks pretty good based on defensive rating and that does match what I've seen as well as comments Jim Peterson has made about his defense.

Bottom line is that KAT's overall contribution to the team is second only to Jimmy Butler. But I agree with two points you made. First, Jimmy is by far our best player. Second, KAT has not established himself as a clutch player.

[Wolvesfan21]

I think KAT will surpass Butler by the end of next season. Butler is closer to his peak while KAT is still rising.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think we all agree that KAT has All NBA potential... so personally, I don't care how he compares to Wolves players, especially because they have such vastly different roles and responsibilities. I care a lot more about how he measures up vs. other promising young bigs.

But I'm too lazy to do the legwork...

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

Ok - I bit... here is where Towns ranks among all centers that have played at least 20 games this year.

Min: 1st
Pts: 5th
FG%: 33rd
3p%: 7th (of all that avg more than 1 attempt)
FTA: 9th
ORB: 10th
DRB: 6th
AST: 13th
TOV: 8th
STL: 7th
BLK: 10th


So despite playing the most min, Towns is just slightly better than average across the board, not really excelling at anything other than being late down the court pretty much every other possession. If only someone tracked who was last down the court every possession - I wonder if he would be 1st.

[Duke13]

Ok - I bit... here is where Towns ranks among all centers that have played at least 20 games this year.

Min: 1st
Pts: 5th
FG%: 33rd
3p%: 7th (of all that avg more than 1 attempt)
FTA: 9th
ORB: 10th
DRB: 6th
AST: 13th
TOV: 8th
STL: 7th
BLK: 10th


So despite playing the most min, Towns is just slightly better than average across the board, not really excelling at anything other than being late down the court pretty much every other possession. If only someone tracked who was last down the court every possession - I wonder if he would be 1st.

Good post, thanks for the stat digging. I know the deep analytic stats are supposed to take out the human interpretation of a players performance. It's relagated to evaluating a player to a science, which is all great.

Kat is so good in my opinion that he can put the stats he's putting up currently in his sleep. I think his game has stagnated a bit. Really no evolution of his post moves, very rudimentary moves. Actually his go to move in the post is often an offensive foul, "the pork chop."

My biggest problem with Kat has been his maturity, he was praised so much early for his maturity, but early last year I noticed, and many on here have odd signs of immaturity from Kat. I've seen some improvement with that this year.

[Lipoli390]

KAT is 5th in scoring behind Cousins, AD, Porzingis, and Embiid, but among that group he has the second highest TS, trailing only AD. And he's 6th in rebounding. The NBA has a lot of really good centers and KAT ranks in the top 5 or 10 depending on the category. Maybe KAT refused to sign Apollo's scrapbook. :).

I do agree with Duke that KAT's game has stagnated this season. I don't see improvement in his low post moves and like Duke I continue to see too many mistakes on the court, which suggest immaturity . But appolo's claim that KAT is only slightly above average among centers is just kind of silly.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

There is no way we are 5th in Ortg as a team without KAT. His combination of scoring volume (PPG) and efficiency (TS%) puts him among the top 4 or 5 offensive bigs in the NBA. His passing potential is there, but needs to get better and obviously his defense is the biggest problem, but he occasionally shows nice flashes there as well.

Along with defense, I agree with Duke that his maturity level is probably the biggest issue - his flopping around, complaining, the histrionics, etc.

[Monster]

Towns hasn't exactly blown up this year however and I wouldnt really argue with the idea he may have stagnated to some extent however.

This is his most efficient season of his career with career bests in eFG% TS% and shooting a career high on 3 pointers. He is doing all this despite his lowest usage of his career. Not too bad.

In addition he has his best offensive rating of his career and upped his steal and block rates from last year. The guy is putting up 20-11 on a team that has 6 guys scoring in double figures AND doing it on a team that's winning plenty of games. How good is he? idk but I am glad we have him with his flaws. And its worth mentioning he has started out slow in the past 2 years and come on as the season wore on.