Minnesota Timberwolves: Does Karl-Anthony Towns Deserve To Be An All-Star?
By Aaron Mah
Karl-Anthony Towns is not only the front-runner to win ROY, he’s also the poster boy for the modern-day stretch 5. His potential is undoubtedly tantalizing, but his current production already screams ‘All-Star.’
The 2015-16 NBA season has “officially” reached its halfway point, as each team has played upwards of 50 games.
And we head into yet another All-Star weekend, this particular campaign is shaping up to be a historical year for the ages.
More explicitly, you’ll be hard pressed to find another season in recent memory where there were as many juicy storylines — from the Golden State Warriors‘ road to a record-breaking 73 wins to Stephen Curry having perhaps the best individual offensive season since the merger; from Kobe Bryant‘s never-ending, yet emotionally-draining, farewell tour to the unforeseen, and ill-timed, handful of coach firings; from Blake Griffin knocking out his vacation buddy/equipment manager to Markieff Morris choking his “little brothers” during timeouts; this season has unequivocally been a memorable one to say the least.
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One of the more intriguing and encouraging storylines of the season has to be the surprising play and influx of material talent the league has received from the draft class of 2015.
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While this particular battalion of rookies lacked the condemning fortunes of predraft hype, their fine play and poise — as a whole — has given the league an injection of paradigm changing talent, especially at the 4 and 5 positions, just in time as the Tim Duncan-Bryant-Kevin Garnett–Dirk Nowitzki era rides out onto the sunset.
At the forefront of the revolution is Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, and the franchise center for your Minnesota Timberwolves.
Just as we were ready read the arbitrary for big men in the modern-day NBA game, the artist known as KAT has swooped into our respective lives, serving as the center position’s knight in shining armor.
He’s everything you’d want in a contemporary stretch 5 — the ability to protect the rim with his length and motor, the nimbleness to defend pick-and-rolls and switch in a pinch, a mesmerizing touch that stretches out all the way to the NBA 3-point line, all the while possessing the grit and willingness to bang and score on the block.
The potential of the 6’11.5″ pterodactyl from Kentucky is mouth-watering, and every game he’ll give us a handful of glimpses of what a fully-formed Towns will be capable of — namely, catching off of a short roll, putting the ball on the deck, before soaring over multiple defenders for his signature “I can’t control my limbs” tomahawk dunk.
But, he’s not just a forward-looking prize, like fellow rookie big man, Kristaps Porzingis; KAT is already one of the most productive bigs in the league.
In fact, he already ranks fourth among all big men this season in PER, sixth in VORP, and 14th in Win Shares per 48 minutes, according to Basketball-Reference.
Which begs the question: does Towns have a legitimate gripe of not making the Western Conference All-Star team this season?
Surely, the elimination of the “center” position in the All-Star balloting process indirectly dampened his prospects to make it as a rookie. And on a side note, the All-Star balloting format should be changed to a point guard, two wings, and two bigs, thereby, mirroring most NBA lineups.
But, looking at the reserves, DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge, Draymond Green, and Anthony Davis secured the big man positions on the West All-Star squad. Certainly, Draymond Green has to make the game considering his impact on both ends of the floor for a historic team.
So, that leaves Cousins, Aldridge, and Davis — are they really having a better season than KAT?
Looking purely at their counting stats, it’s difficult to make an argument for Towns over Cousins and Davis. Specifically, Boogie and AD are two of only three players in the league to average over 20-and-10 (the other being Russell Westbrook), and DeMarcus, in particular, is putting up prime Shaquille O’Neal numbers on the surface.
However, on a per-minute basis, Towns’ production hardly pales in comparison, as he’s averaging more than 20 points and 12 rebounds per-36 minutes. More impressively, he’s scoring on a TS% (true shooting percentage) of 59.6 percent; in comparison, Cousins scores on a TS% of 53.7 percent while Davis is at 55.9 percent.
When analyzing KAT’s rookie year to the crop of All-Star rookie bigs of yesteryear, Towns also juxtaposes favorably. In fact, his per-minute numbers are nearly identical to what Tim Duncan to put up in 1997-98 — an inaugural season which earned him a spot on the All-NBA 1st team.
So, did Towns get snubbed this year? I say yes.
His team may not be doing so well, but such is life when the three leading scorers on your squad cannot legally buy a drink at a bar.
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Sure, it’s en vogue to reward winning, so you gift a spot to LMA — who, full disclosure, has been absolutely balling since shutting down his Twitter account — but Towns is having a historical rookie year in a season where history is being made.
For my money, given all external circumstances, having Karl-Anthony Towns in the most glorious pick-up game on the planet would be the perfect — and most apropos — passing of the torch symbol as Kobe soaks in his last horrah.