NBA: Ranking the top 5 young cores in the league
By Eliot Clough
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
D’Angelo Russell 23, Karl-Anthony Towns 23, Malik Beasley 23, Jarrett Culver 20, Josh Okogie 21
With Russell and Towns headlining this crew, it’s difficult not to put the Minnesota Timberwolves higher up on this list.
The thing that’s holding them back is organization dysfunction and complete lack of success with the trio that was Towns, Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins. For all we know, Butler was completely justified in his resentment and demands to leave the franchise.
On the other hand, the pairing of Russell and Towns is something NBA fans have wanted since their entering the league. Plus, Russell emerged as a leader and cornerstone to the Brooklyn Nets roster in 2018. Who knows? Maybe the catalyst the T-Wolves needed for some culture change was a friend of Towns and shipping Wiggins to Golden State.
Malik Beasley also put up 35 points on the Houston Rockets just over a week ago. Rookie Jarrett Culver is a lesser-known commodity but averaged 18.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game his last year at Texas Tech, earning his position of being drafted sixth overall in 2019.