NBA: Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns ‘could be traded in the coming weeks’

Is Karl-Anthony Towns on his way out in Minnesota?

The former first-overall pick is expected to be ‘long gone’ before the 2024-25 season, and some rival executives say the Timberwolves could trade him in the coming weeks, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.

The issue from the Timberwolves’ perspective is the looming contract extensions for the team’s younger stars: Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.

While Edwards is widely expected to land a max contract, or something close to that, the versatile McDaniels is seeking between $25 million and $30 million per season, Pincus reports. And that represents some serious luxury tax issues for a middling team that owes a combined $77 million to Towns and Rudy Gobert next season.

Towns will be a free agent after the 2024, when the 27-year-old is expected to command another max or near-max salary.

And given his diminishing production (his scoring and rebounding were both down in 2022-23 with the Gobert’s arrival and Edwards’ development), it’s Towns who could be on his way out in Minnesota.

Gobert, meanwhile, is owed $130 million over the next three seasons, and that was only a portion of the cost to acquire the former Defensive Player of the Year from Utah before last season. 

In a deal that has been widely panned by Timberwolves fans, the team also surrendered five players, including promising rookie Walker Kessler, and a whopping five future first-round picks.

Rudy Gobert (left) and Jaden McDaniels (right) might make it hard for Minny to keep Towns 

Pincus names the Houston Rockets as a potential destination for Towns, suggesting that he could be paired with James Harden, who is reportedly mulling a return to Eastern Texas.

The Timberwolves are in need of a point guard, several of which are available in the upcoming draft, namely Scoot Henderson.

The problem is, Henderson is likely to be taken in the first three picks, and the Rockets hold the fourth, so another team may need to be involved if a deal is to be worked out for Towns.

The San Antonio Spurs have the first pick and will undoubtedly take 7-foot-4 Frenchman Victor Wembanyama, while the Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail blazers are second and third, where Henderson and Alabama’s Brandon Miller are likely to be taken.