Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns is becoming a star who stayed
Towns has grown up in an NBA era that is more transient than ever, with stars across the league exerting their influence and leverage to extricate themselves from undesirable situations. From
Anthony Davis to
Kawhi Leonard to
Kyrie Irving to
Paul George, James Harden, Butler and now (it seems)
Kevin Durant, Towns has seen many a star bolt their teams under circumstances often far less daunting than those he has dealt with in Minnesota.
And yet there he was on Friday, in the middle of something entirely different — a celebration. The mayor of Minneapolis declared it
“Karl-Anthony Towns Day” in the city to commemorate his supermax contract extension, a four-year, $220-plus million deal that ties him to the Timberwolves through the 2027-28 season, which would be his 14th in Minnesota. Should that happen, Towns would usurp Kevin Garnett for the longest-tenured Wolves player ever. And he made it clear on Friday, as he has over and over again during his career, that he plans to do just that.
“I’ve always said this place felt like somewhere I could retire, somewhere I could call home for the rest of my career and play basketball at a high level,” Towns told
The Athletic after his press conference. “It felt like the right thing to do, not only for me and my family but for my basketball career. This is always the place I wanted to win a championship because I like taking the hard road. I like having to earn it. No better place to do it than in Minnesota.”
It
has been a hard road.
Losses,
frustration and a
revolving door at Target Center that hasn’t stopped spinning since before he owned a home in the Twin Cities. And with it, a constant stream of rumors churning through the gossip mill that Towns would be the next big star to ask out.
While other players wiggle out of teams that are either in less glamorous markets, aren’t winning or just are not measuring up to the star’s expectations, Towns is going the other direction. He is committing even further to a team that has only advanced out of the first round of the playoffs one time in more than three decades in the league. He still had two years left on his current deal and could have easily waited to see how Connelly fared after being
lured away from Denver, waited to get a feel for how a
supersized frontcourt pairing with newly acquired
Rudy Gobert will work and waited to see if
Anthony Edwards makes the third-year leap that everyone around here is anticipating.
Instead, Towns didn’t wait a second to re-up. Connelly met with Towns and his agent, Jess Holtz of CAA, to extend the max offer as soon as the team was allowed to do it on June 30th. And the agreement was consummated the minute the clock struck midnight on the East Coast on July 1, the soonest it could happen under league rules. The team is coming off of a playoff appearance and has added Gobert and
Kyle Anderson. Towns is coming off of an All-NBA season. For the first time in a long time, the Wolves seem to have something good going.
“The NBA is aware of who we are now,” Towns said. “We set out to go out there, make noise and make sure they knew these weren’t the same Timberwolves that they were used to. We’ve done that.”
The quickness with which he signed was in stark contrast to the
last time Towns agreed to an extension, in 2018. As tensions with Thibodeau and Butler simmered all summer long, Towns let the Wolves’ max offer sit on the table for months. He wasn’t sure he wanted to commit to a team with so many chemistry problems, and Butler’s trade request was turning the entire operation into a circus.
Those who know Towns best believe he seriously considered not signing the extension, which would have set up a showdown with the organization and, quite likely a trade. Towns leaving the Wolves hanging all summer long was his way of quietly expressing dissatisfaction with the situation. Towns waited until the last possible day under league rules that he could sign the deal, then reported to training camp and walked right into the Butler mess, which overshadowed Towns’ big moment.
Several teams were eyeing Towns the entirety of that summer, with the
Boston Celtics among the most aggressive in trying to pry Towns out of Minnesota, league sources said. Asked on Friday if he ever came close to asking for a trade over the previous seven years, Towns hinted strongly that it had crossed his mind.
“I signed this (extension) in the first couple hours and the last one I signed on the very last day I could,” Towns told
The Athletic. “You take your guess on that one.”
In an era when stars bolt all the time, what makes Karl Anthony-Towns and his connection to the Wolves different?
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Howl Wolves!!
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