Over the weekend, Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns signed a highly-anticipated contract extension.
It took longer than some extensions take, but the end result is just the same.
Three years ago, Towns was roaming the Minneapolis skyway with Flip Saunders and Tyus Jones, the hometown kid who the Wolves traded for. A crowd followed the three all the way to the press conference.
Saunders was a great coach. But he was also a great marketing mind.
After being drafted, Towns received a call from Saunders in Brooklyn. After hanging up after, he looked at the Timberwolves Public Relations staff member and said, “I love him already!”
Unfortunately, Saunders wasn’t able to see the player that Towns has become. But that doesn’t keep Towns from playing for the man who drafted him.
“I want to keep to the plan that I told Flip Saunders about since day one,” Towns said at the team’s media day on Monday. “I want to bring this city something special. Nothing has changed since that day I told him.”
Those three years ago seem like yesterday, but also a decade ago at the same time.
So much has happened with this franchise since that moment, but its core of Towns and Andrew Wiggins remain the same. The expectations, however, have become higher.
In his first season in the league, Towns averaged 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. He became just the fifth unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year.
A year later, Towns averaged 25.1 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
Season No. 3 was his breakthrough season.
At age 22, Towns led the league in double-doubles, was voted to his first All-Star Team, was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and most importantly, helped lead the Wolves to their first playoff appearance since the 2003-04 season.
"What we have in Karl is obviously a very special player to be All-NBA at his age and do the things that he’s done,” Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau said at the team’s Media Day.
Saying Towns is a “very special player” is probably an understatement. Towns’ numbers tell us he’s an incredibly rare player that doesn’t come along very often.
“It’s huge,” Thibodeau continue the next day at the team’s first practice. “Obviously it’s great to have the commitment to Karl and obviously Glen (Taylor) made a big commitment to him as well . . . It’s a big piece for us. All the things that he’s done, particularly to be All-NBA after the third season, an All-Star. He’s hungry to get better and better. The fact that he’s so young is great for us.”
Towns has scored more points and grabbed more rebounds than Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett throughout their first three years in the league.
Towns hit on 42.1 percent of his 3-point shots last season, a mark that ranked 14th in the league, sandwiched between Stephen Curry and J.J. Redick. Not bad company when it comes to the 3-point shot, especially for a center. Among forwards and centers, only Anthony Tolliver and Al Horford had higher percentages than Towns from deep.
In three seasons, he has yet to miss a game. The best ability in the NBA for stars is availability and Towns gives the Wolves that.
Wiggins has missed one game in his four-year career. How dare he!
People love to compare Towns to Anthony Davis. It makes sense with both being unicorn-type players hailing from Kentucky, both being drafted first overall.
While Davis is a better defensively player than Towns and has been since entering the league, Towns wins the offensive battle through the first three years of their careers.
Towns has averaged 21.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from deep.
Davis averaged 19.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 52.5 percent and 11.1 percent from deep.
Of course, Davis led the league twice in blocks per game in that stretch, but also missed 47 of 246 games.
Like Towns, Davis helped lead his team to the playoffs in his third season as an eighth seed.
Jones has been with Towns through those three seasons and is proud of his fellow draftee, but this is just the beginning.
“Very happy for him,” Jones said. “Same draft class, so everything we’ve gone through is kind of the same time frame. Extremely happy for him. You always want to see everyone be successful and have success, especially someone you’re closer with. You want to see those type of things pan out for him, so I’m extremely happy for him. He deserves it for sure.”
“It’s huge. Karl is a franchise player, and I think everyone knows that. To get him locked up is big time.”
Towns said at media day that a lot of his focus with a new contract to be even more of a leader for the Timberwolves. They’ll need one with the current Jimmy Butler predicament.
But financially, Towns will focus on efforts around the world, and around the Minneapolis community – something he’s done since getting drafted.
It’s also such a huge moment for his family. A family that has certainly sacrificed a lot for the success of Towns.
“Now you’re presented with a situation that you could take care of generations of your family, I’m truly blessed, honored, thinking about it now,” Towns said. “Thinking about really about my family. I’m able to take care of them for the rest of their lives.”
Players who have accomplished the success of Towns throughout their first three seasons have been all-time greats, Hall of Fame players, players who are the best players on championship teams.
Towns knows that he has plenty of strides to still make, but given his career trajectory so far, we shouldn’t doubt that he’ll continue to develop to be an even better player, which is obviously scary for the rest of the league.
“There are a lot of things I want to do,” Towns said. “I’ve worked tremendously hard on my craft on being the best player I could possibly be for this team.”