The Top 5 Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Destinations If Timberwolves Trade Him

Four-time All-Star power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be on the move this summer.

The 7-foot Kentucky product was a key component of his team’s surprise run all the way to the Western Conference Finals this past spring, but he hasn’t been a perfect fit in Minnesota ever since the team brought in center Rudy Gobert via trade in 2022.

Gobert, who was just named the Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts during the 2023-24 regular season, has supplanted Towns as their team’s starting center and has emerged as the fulcrum of the club’s defensive effort in the paint, while All-Defensive swingman Jaden McDaniels and All-NBA shooting guard Anthony Edwards supply elite perimeter protection.

Towns, Gobert, and newly-minted Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid became a (slightly ill-fitting) three-headed monster for Minnesota, though figuring out who to play when became a bit of an issue for head coach Chris Finch and assistant coach Micah Nori, who had to act as Finch’s ambassador after Finch suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during Minnesota’s first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, an eventual sweep. Towns is a terrific shooter from all over the floor, but a poor rim defender (but a solid high post defender in spot minutes), and he is prone to fouling at inopportune moments.

During the Timberwolves’ playoff run, the 28-year-old Towns posted averages of 19.1 points on .466/.361/.855 shooting splits, nine rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.8 steals a night. It’s not too shabby, though offensively a bit of a dip from his 21.8 points on .504/.416/.873 shooting splits and three assists during the regular season.

Towns has often been floated as a trade candidate for a Minnesota club that, despite all its success, is going to be in major cap trouble starting in 2024-25. Given the team’s tenuous ownership situation, it may make sense that the Timberwolves could look to cut costs. Towns, a nominal center who’s playing out of position anyway, makes the most sense as a player to offload and turn into multiple pieces.

Here are some potential destinations for the talented big man, who’s owed an estimated $49.4 million next season.

Miami Heat

Five-time All-Defensive Team center Bam Adebayo, himself a three-time All-Star, might be a terrific talent — but at just 6-foot-9 and 255 pounds, he may be a bit miscast as a starting center when he has to go up against 7-foot, 280-pound Joel Embiid, 7-foot-1, 258-pound Gobert, and 6-foot-11, 284 reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. Slotting in Towns, who again is a solid high post defender himself, could help cure what ails a quality Heat club that has struggled deep in the playoffs with being somewhat undersized. Towns would solve the size problem at center, and allow Adebayo to move to the four spot (where he would be on the bigger side, but thanks to his athleticism that wouldn’t be a problem), but thanks to Towns’ sharpshooting (his 41.6 percent three-point shooting during the season happened on a high-volume 5.3 attempts), it wouldn’t cramp the team’s spacing.

Golden State Warriors

This is another tiny would-be contender. Unlike Miami, Golden State didn’t even make the playoffs this past year, having gotten knocked out in its first play-in game by the Sacramento Kings. Head coach Steve Kerr shifted 6-foot-6 power forward Draymond Green to the team’s starting center role ahead of Kevon Looney and rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, and while it worked in small-ball bursts, against the behemoths of the West it would have worn thin. Again, given that Green is an inconsistent outside shooter, inserting Towns into Golden State’s first five would help the club have a four-out, one-in, shooting-friendly starting lineup. Given that Towns, one of the best shooting big men ever, would (theoretically) be joining a starting group that also boasts the greatest shooter of all time in All-Star point guard Stephen Curry, his addition could be a terrific fit.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies had something of a year from hell last season, as they were beset by a lethal combination of suspensions and injuries to pretty much all of their best players. The team’s perhaps unwarranted youthful arrogance has seemed a touch too optimistic at times during its two recent 50-plus-win seasons, in 2021-22 and 2022-23, when it fell earlier in the playoffs than it had hoped to either time, failing to reach the Western Conference Finals. Towns would be a relative veteran on this roster, and his solid shooting could prove to be a steadying offensive release valve on a club that has heretofore relied more on its athleticism and ability to get to the rack at will.

Indiana Pacers

3-and-D starting Indiana center Myles Turner has been a flight risk seemingly ever since he signed his second contract with the franchise. The 6-foot-11 University of Texas at Austin big man is ostensibly the perfect futuristic fit for the Pacers, and his two-man game with newly-installed starting power forward Pascal Siakam looked plenty impressive during their team’s surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals as a No. 6 seed. But Towns represents a next-level shooter if Indiana wants to recalibrate its egalitarian offense a bit to be more star-centric. His addition would be pricey and not necessarily as smooth as some others here, but it represents an intriguing possibility for an offensive upgrade (and, yes, a defensive downgrade, but he can hold his own on that end of the floor when motivated, as we’ve seen in these playoffs).

New York Knicks

Towns is essentially the center version of All-Star power forward Julius Randle. The duo couldn’t play together, and now that we know Towns can handle himself as a power forward alongside a big rim-rolling center, that might be his role in New York alongside current starting five Isaiah Hartenstein. Towns and Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, however, have already been through the ringer together, having spent a few years alongside each other on some ill-fated Timberwolves teams. If the head coach is convinced his offense could truly take a leap with Towns swapped in for the cheaper Randle, the risky reunion may be worth a look. Randle has become a surprisingly adept passer for Thibodeau, having averaged at least five assists per contest across each of his three All-Star seasons with Thibodeau. Towns couldn’t serve as that supplemental big man distributor in the Knicks offense, but he’s a better shooter than Randle, who this past season logged a .472/.311/.781 line while logging 24 points a night when healthy.