Word is Karl-Anthony Towns is unhappy with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With reports from Athletic’s Ethan Strauss that the Golden State Warriors are monitoring the availability of Towns, the question of whether the Boston Celtics ought to make a phone call to a certain office in Minneapolis is sure to arise from Celtics fans.
Likely due to the perennially-disappointing 11-20 Wolves looking unable to surround the 24-year-old All-Star with enough talent to make postseason noise yet again, multiple general managers shared that the coveted young big was ‘unhappy’ at the 2019 Winter G League Showcase, reports Strauss.
The Warriors have capitalized on injuries to their two best players (point guard Stephen Curry and wing Klay Thompson) to develop several young prospects alongside fifth-year floor general D’Angelo Russell, evidently hoping to pry loose the Dominican big man with some combination of players and assets.
Warriors young players (and yes, potential for a superstar trade) growing https://t.co/dCdnembvWt
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) December 30, 2019
Could the Celtics field a better offer, and if so — should they?
One thing to keep in mind is any deal involving Towns will require him to both want off of the Wolves and for that franchise to believe dealing Towns is the wiser path. It would also need a team that makes a move for him to be confident enough the haul they’d be offering was worth its likely steep cost.
With Curry locked up until 2021-22, Russell and Draymond Green until 2022-23, and Thompson until 2023-24, the Dubs could offer compelling trades built around the former Brooklyn Nets floor general and the young prospects they’ve built up while still remaining a formidable force in the West.
The 9-11 record Golden State possesses suggests a good chance the team will have a 2020 lottery pick to add to any deal, perhaps a valuable one. Though technically owed to the Nets as part of the Russell sign-and-trade, it will only convey if it falls outside of its top-20 protections.
That the team only owes one other first round draft pick — a lightly-protected 2024 selection owed to the Memphis Grizzlies — suggests the Warriors could field a competitive offer, even if the likes of rookies Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagić fail to inspire excitement.
For Boston’s part, any deal that would be a slam-dunk over what the Warriors — and perhaps other teams — could offer should Towns actually be looking for a way out of Minnesota would likely require one of Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, with the jury still out on whether such a move would legitimately raise the team’s ceiling.
Towns’ offensive firepower might be enough to overpower opponents with one of the Jays still on the roster, but given, as with many potential trade partners proposed this season, salary matching would be exceedingly difficult, the picture gets fuzzy fast.
Let me add: the #Twolves are not moving KAT anytime soon. Stories like this create discussion, and selfishly, are good for business, whether for radio or TV. But just know that Wolves folks would tell you that KAT more than anything wants to win here. Year 1 of 5 offers time. https://t.co/fTp7f6ifyQ
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) December 30, 2019
League rules related to salary requirements for a recently-extended player like Brown would make such a deal difficult if not impossible to pull off.
Tatum’s comparatively low rookie-scale deal ($7.8 million this season) would require lumping in Marcus Smart or another high-dollar contract to make the salary work with Towns set to earn $27.2 million this season.
With only 29-year-old “elder” statesmen Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward in that range, a rebuilding Minnesota franchise isn’t likely to want what Boston might conceivably give up barring an unlikely three-team deal, fit concerns aside.
Those fit concerns are not small, either, as dealing one of those three would diminish Boston enough that it’s unclear whether such a blockbuster would actually make the team better, particularly when considering several quality draft assets would almost certainly be needed to seal the deal, too.
Better to let this rumor unfold and focus on the season at hand, Celtics fans — while stranger deals have certainly happened, this one seems far-fetched even for teams who fancy themselves light-years ahead of their peers.