Karl-Anthony Towns Is The Next Great Big Man

Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns isn’t just the sure-fire pick for Rookie of the Year, he’s the perfect center for today’s NBA.

All season long, Karl-Anthony Towns has been showcasing why he was chosen with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

The Minnesota Timberwolves big man has not only met the lofty expectations for him entering the season, he’s exceeded them. In the process, he’s proven to be the NBA’s next great big man.

Over the past decade, you can trace the decline of the big man in the NBA from Shaquille O’Neal‘s decline and end of his career to today’s small-ball revolution that has taken the NBA by storm. The de-emphasis on traditional big men made some even wonder if the future of the NBA involved the behemoths who have roamed the paint since the NBA came into existence.

Reports of the demise of big men have been greatly exaggerated. Instead, the NBA needed a new breed of big men that are quick enough to defend on the perimeter, can shoot well enough to avoid clogging the paint with an extra defender, while big enough to continue the duties in the post that big men have done throughout NBA history.

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If you were to create a player using that formula for the perfect big man for today’s NBA, you’d come out with Karl-Anthony Towns. Simply, he’s the perfect big man for today’s NBA and he’s only 20 years old.

The evidence for Towns’ perfect blend of size and skills were on display in the Timberwolves’ shocking 124-117 overtime win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors. In the game, Towns finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

Beyond the impressive stats, Towns demonstrated his unique skill set that no other player possesses.

He’s strong enough to power his way to points.

He has a refined post game that is already good enough to consistently generate points even against some of the NBA’s best defensive centers.

The Wolves treat him as if he’s J.J. Redick at times, running him off of screens while his defender is almost always too slow to stay with him.

Occasionally, Towns will take a stepback jumper a la James Harden that is simply unstoppable for anyone to defend, especially the lumbering big men often tasked with defending Towns.

He’s nimble enough to be cross-matched onto even the most unguardable perimeter players in the league and still stop his man.

If you think that defensive possession with Towns locking Curry up is an anomaly, check out this play from a previous meeting between the two.

If you go back and look at the few plays where Towns was matched up on Curry over the season, there’s a mixed bag of impressive stops by Towns and Curry making a few of the impossible shots that he’s hit so many times this season. Towns isn’t going to be asked to defend Curry on every play, but he’s shown he’s capable of completely shutting down Curry on a couple plays.

If he can do that to Curry, he can do it to anyone.

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Certain players are keys that unlock a style of play that a team can play. In a best-case scenario, teams love to switch everything on screens so that players are in better position to defend off of picks instead of giving up too much space or being caught off balance.

The reason why teams don’t do this is because they don’t have the personnel, usually with their bigs when cross-matched with the Currys, James Hardens or Kevin Durants of the league.

Towns allows the Wolves to play a switching style of defense that will pay dividends if and when the Wolves grow up and develop into a playoff-caliber team.

He does all of this while still serving as a solid rim protector, averaging 1.7 blocks per game and holding opponents to 48 percent shooting at the rim, per Nylon Calculus

Towns is the ideal big man for where the league is at and where it is going. He blends the past with the present and future with a skill set that is unmatched.

He’s already one of the NBA’s best three to five centers as a rookie. The only rookies in NBA history since 1973-74 (when blocks became an official stats) who have matched his 18.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game are Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, O’Neal and Ralph Sampson.

O’Neal was the only one to do this at age 20. Combined, those four Hall of Famers knocked down only one three-pointer in their rookie seasons.

Towns has made 27 of his 79 attempts (34.2 percent) from deep.

There is no comparison for him that doesn’t an addition. He’s more athletic with deeper range than Tim Duncan. He’s bigger and stronger than Kevin Garnett and Anthony Davis. He’s more athletic and far superior defensively than Dirk Nowitzki. He’s as versatile as Draymond Green, but taller with a much more skilled offensive game.

This isn’t to say he’ll be better than Duncan or Garnett at their apexes, but it’s a sign of just how good he already is and how scary he could become.

It seems as if many great players have been pushed to this side due to the incredible season that Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have had and Towns’ amazing rookie season has been one of them.

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Soon enough, Towns and the Wolves will be too good to be ignored.