NBA: Ranking every team’s best player in 2019-20

If Rudy Gobert is the elite defensive center with less offensive prowess, Karl-Anthony Towns is his mirror image. Towns is one of the game’s most talented offensive players, able to score on the block and from beyond the arc. Truly, no center in the league has his shooting touch and perhaps only Joel Embiid can match him as a post scorer.

The problem for Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves is the defensive end of the court, where Towns has made strides, but is still overall a negative there.

Logic and the rules of basketball make the center the most important defensive position even in today’s game of bombing from 3-point range and that means Towns being a poor defender hurts his teams more than Damian Lillard or James Harden lacking in that area.

The right team construction can balance that out and the Timberwolves are making the right moves in that area. Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver, the team’s last two first-round picks, are athletic wings with a penchant for defense; the same goes for Robert Covington, now fully healthy. Having elite defenders at three positions can be the environment where Towns thrives.

Looking ahead: There is no point in looking to anyone else here. The former Kentucky Wildcat is just 23 years old, with his prime still before him. The best player on the Timberwolves will be Towns until he demands a trade. It will be exciting to see how great he truly gets.