NBA: 5 of the best player rivalries the future has to offer

3. Karl-Anthony Towns vs. Nikola Jokic

Drafted No. 1 overall in 2015, Karl-Anthony Towns was expected to grab the reigns as the best center in the league, at the very least in his conference.

Since then, he’s done great things on an individual level, having made two All-Star appearances with career averages of 22.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

During that same period, however, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won no more than 47 games with a single playoff appearance to show for KAT’s efforts.

While not completely his fault, the lack of team success has had him upstaged by a Western Conference contemporary whose career vastly differs from his own.

Nikola Jokic was no prodigy destined for greatness at the 2015 Draft. It’s why he fell all the way to pick No. 41. Yet during each of his four seasons in the league, the Serbian big man has shown a skillset all his own while increasing his points, rebounds and assists.

The breakout star had his best season to date in 2018-19. Aside from absurd averages of 20.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to 54 wins and the second spot in the Western Conference, eventually bowing out in the second round of the playoffs.

All three of those accomplishments far surpasses anything Towns has done for the Timberwolves.

In fairness, his supporting cast pails in comparison to Denver’s well-balanced attack, but a player of KAT’s caliber should have Minnesota clawing for the eighth seed at the least instead of praying on the chance bounces of ping pong balls.

The foundation for this rivalry was planted once the Wolves usurped Denver on the final day of the 2017-18 regular season to claim the final playoff spot.

Since then, the two franchises have bitterness festering under the surface that could blossom at any moment with two star centers battling for supremacy.

Towns didn’t take lightly his matchups against Jokic last season, putting up 29.0 points a night across three games.

The Joker — and subsequently the Nuggets — have the upper hand now. If the Wolves were to turn a corner with their talent around KAT, the individual matchups between these two will border on all-out warfare with stakes that do their talent justice.