Timberwolves reportedly had some talks about Karl-Anthony Towns trade around draft

From the moment the Timberwolves traded for Rudy Gobert — and with Anthony Edwards rising as the future face of the franchise — executives from other teams have been circling like vultures, waiting to see if Minnesota would explore trades for Karl-Anthony Towns. From the outside, if this roster doesn’t mesh the way Timberwolves executives hope (and it didn’t last season), trading Towns is the only real path out (Gobert is close to untradable with his contract and nobody sane would trade Edwards).

Minnesota explored the idea on some level around the draft, Ian Begley of SNY.TV said on The Lowe Post podcast.

“There were talks between the Timberwolves and other teams before the draft and Towns’ name came up. I don’t know how aggressive the Timberwolves were with Towns, if at all.”

As has been said before, this was likely more about other teams calling the Timberwolves and Minnesota using the chance to see where the market is for Towns rather than meaningful trade talks. There may have been a little smoke, but there is no fire. Yet.

The Timberwolves have said they plan to run this core back this season and there is zero buzz that the plan is anything otherwise. In a West where there is Denver followed by teams with questions, it’s not a bad plan to see where they fit in the mix when healthy.

However, the clock is ticking. Minnesota is about to spend $77 million combined on Towns and Gobert this season while needing to evolve to become Edwards’ team — he is going to be their best player and the roster needs to be structured around him. If things don’t mesh this season, the Timberwolves need to consider serious changes, and Towns becomes the logical choice. The challenge is Towns’ four-year max contract ($234 million) kicks in starting next season when he will make about $52.3 million, and how many teams can, or are willing, to take that on?

If Minnesota gets off to a slow start this season, expect the Towns talk to grow louder. For now, it’s just talk.