NBA Rumors: Warriors Reportedly ‘Monitoring’ Karl-Anthony Towns’ Trade Availability
The Golden State Warriors appear to be the latest team showing interest in a possible trade for Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, as suggested by a new report.
Quoting a story from Ethan Strauss of subscriber-only publication The Athletic, Bleacher Report wrote that the Warriors are “monitoring” Towns amid continued rumors that he may be on the move ahead of the February trade deadline. As further cited, multiple NBA team executives observed at the recent G League Showcase that the 24-year-old big man seems “unhappy” in Minnesota, especially since the Timberwolves are at 12th place in the Western Conference with a disappointing 12-20 record.
No specific trade scenarios were discussed in-depth, but Strauss wrote that the Timberwolves might want to acquire D’Angelo Russell from the Warriors, given the All-Star guard’s well-documented friendship with Towns. He added, however, that Golden State has a “differing vision” as far as acquiring the superstar big man from Minnesota is concerned.
Although Towns is posting big numbers once again for the Timberwolves, with averages of 26.5 points, 11.7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 23 games, he has yet to make it past the first round of the playoffs since getting picked first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, per Basketball-Reference. But if he gets traded to the Warriors prior to the February deadline, there’s a possibility he will be joining a team that doesn’t have much of a chance to make it to the postseason after a dominant run that includes three championships this decade.
Karl-Anthony Towns called game pic.twitter.com/3G3HrDREz4
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 31, 2019
As explained by Bleacher Report, the Warriors have stumbled to a 9-25 record this season. This puts them at last place in the Western Conference as the starting backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson deal with serious injuries, with the latter specifically expected to miss the entire 2019-20 campaign due to an ACL tear. The publication added that Golden State appears to be looking ahead to the 2020-21 season, which could see them debuting a high draft pick and having him play alongside a healthy Curry and Thompson.
Despite the expectation that the Warriors will focus mainly on the upcoming season and not the current one, as well as the fact that Towns is in the first year of a five-year maximum contract extension, NBC Sports separately reported that neither of those things may matter when it comes to potentially adding one of the NBA’s most talented big men. The outlet wrote that Golden State may still want to trade for him, considering his youth and the need to develop younger players to take over once core players such as Thompson, Curry, and Draymond Green start aging.
