NBA Trades: 12 stars that will likely change teams by next season

NBA Star #5: Karl-Anthony Towns

The Minnesota Timberwolves mostly underperformed their talent level, though they showed signs of life late last season. Of course, that was before a meltdown during the final night of the regular season, which led to them being bounced in the first round by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

Now, they face an interesting decision this summer. They could decide to run it back and hope for better results after star Karl-Anthony Towns missed most of last season. Or they could choose to shake things up again by making another big offseason trade, this time involving Towns. Towns has four years remaining on his new deal, while  Rudy Gobert has three. Factor in Anthony Edwards’ upcoming contract extension kicking in soon and the Wolves could be locked into a core that might not fit well together.

Towns and Anthony Edwards are also six years apart in age, and the Wolves don’t figure to be a title contender as currently built. Taking that into account, they could either take a step back or build a better team around Edwards in the near future. Or, they could retool on the fly by turning Towns into multiple players who can contribute.

There’s also the new CBA to think about since it makes it near impossible to pay three players $40 million or more. The Wolves would not be forced to move Towns ahead of next season. Be that as it may, of the Towns-Gobert-Edwards trio, Edwards is untouchable, and Gobert is almost untradable, making Towns the most expendable.