Minnesota Timberwolves: October player grades

Karl-Anthony Towns

8 GP, 32.3 MPG, 18.9 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.3 BPG

Karl-Anthony Towns’ stats are down across the board, with him either averaging career lows or the lowest totals since his rookie season back in 2015-16. His underwhelming -2.2 net rating stems from him shooting just 43.8 percent (atrocious for a big man) overall, despite shooting 45 percent from 3.

As you can see in this shooting breakdown, Towns is shooting just 56.0 percent at the rim, 43.3 percent within 3-10 feet of the basket and just 30.0 percent between 10-16 feet of the basket — all three of which are significantly down from last season.

You might think the Timberwolves’ lack of spacing is allowing defenders to converge on Towns around the basket, but they are shooting more often and better from 3-point range than they did last season.

So far through 2018-19, Minnesota is 19th in 3s attempted with 28.9 per game and hitting them at a 38.1 percent clip, eighth-best in the league. In 2017-18, Minnesota was 30th in attempted 3s per game at 22.5 per game and 19th in 3 percentage at 35.7 percent. Right now KAT is simply missing shots.

Towns’ other all-world skill, rebounding, has also taken a hit this season. His 17.2 total rebound percentage so far is on pace to be the lowest of his career, despite the fact that the Timberwolves don’t have anyone other than Towns averaging more than seven rebounds a game.

A C+ grade might seem generous considering Towns has played worse than he has in years thus far, but he is at least trending up. In his past two games — victories against the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz — Towns has posted 53 points, 32 rebounds, 10 assists and six blocks while drawing 16 free throw attempts. He has been much more engaged and attentive in those games as well, again flashing the potential to be a franchise cornerstone with plays like this…

and this…

… and this defensive gem:

The final factor in his C+ grade is the fact that the Jimmy Butler situation is very clearly affecting him. Of all the pairings between Towns and his teammates (who’ve played enough minutes to qualify), the Towns-Butler pairing has the worst net rating, at a ghastly -9.3 in 146 minutes.

There isn’t any noticeable statistical that points to why they have been so bad together, which only leaves room for intangibles. You can argue that KAT, as an adult, should be handling this more professionally, but it’s hard not to empathize with him after all the “tough love” Butler has shown.

Grade: C+