4 realistic trades for disgruntled star Karl-Anthony Towns

Golden State Warriors

The true purpose of Ethan Strauss’ report was to outline how the Golden State Warriors are ready to reload and acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns would do exactly that.

Throughout the Warriors’ stretch of excellence, center became the position of negligence. Andrew Bogut made a lot of money the first few years, but once Kevin Durant arrived, the front office had to be extra stingy with its non-superstar signings.

There is a player making similar money to Towns who could go to Minnesota and the Wolves were very close to getting him this past summer: D’Angelo Russell. The fifth-year guard has built on his breakout campaign from last season, upping his scoring from 21.1 points per game to 23.2 while also bumping his true shooting percentage from 53.3 to 55.7.

Golden State’s 2020 pick goes to Brooklyn if outside the top 20 (it won’t be), so technically the Wolves get this pick if it is in the top 20 (which is extremely likely).

Adding Towns would bring a different type of firepower to the Warriors. Assuming Klay Thompson is ready for the start of next season, Golden State could have elite 3-point shooting at three of the five spots in the starting lineup (Stephen Curry, Thompson, Towns) with Draymond Green controlling the defense and a 3-and-D role player as the fifth starter.

Though the Wolves wanted DLo to pair with Towns instead of swapping them, it’s not a nightmare to get a 23-year-old who has done what Russell has with Brooklyn and Golden State. He gives Minnesota a player to build around for the next few years as some of its bad contracts come off the books.

In addition, the high draft pick in 2020 gives the team a chance to add to its core immediately.