Rookie Ladder: Towns Trying To Find Way Back To Early-Season Success

No sooner did Karl-Anthony Towns himself temper what by every other measure was a very encouraging start, saying he underachieved the first five weeks of his NBA career — no matter that the numbers and reviews say otherwise — he provided supporting evidence, too.

Towns, the No. 1 pick in 2015, has amassed six consecutive games with no more than eight rebounds. That comes after consistently reaching double-digit rebounds in eight of his first 12 outings.

He’s got no more than two blocks in that same six-game span, which is decent production … but nothing like recording at least three shots in seven of the previous 12 games (including six swats Nov. 18 in Orlando).

He’s recorded seven points or less in four of his last five games, all except his 17-point effort against the Clippers in a Sunday matinee, came while struggling to get shots and minutes, sometimes because of foul trouble and sometimes just because. Then, Towns bottomed out with six points on two-of-11 shooting in 22 minutes Tuesday against the Magic in Minneapolis.

Maybe this is Towns in a basic slump or maybe this is the rest of the league putting together a scouting report on him and taking away what made the Timberwolves’ center clearly the best first-year player the first quarter of the season. Either way, this is definitely an early turning point in the Kia Rookie of the Year race.

Towns is laboring at the same time New York Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis is making a mockery of preseason expectations within NBA circles that he’d initially struggle as a defender and rebounder due to a lack of strength at power forward. It’s a move that could send New Yorkers — who are already hyperventilating over Porzingis — marching into the streets to demand his unanimous election to the Hall of Fame before the Hall of Fame.

“I felt that I haven’t done enough yet,” Towns said when asked about the consensus among NBA front offices that he would end up as the Draft’s best player but wouldn’t have this much of an impact this soon.

“I still have a lot to grow. I expect myself to do more. People feel that I have overachieved, but I feel that myself that I work tremendously hard in the gym. I feel almost I have underachieved a little bit.”

How specifically?

“I just expect a lot from myself,” he said. “Anytime someone expects something from me, I expect about five times more from myself. Just going out there and trying to play the best I can play. Learning every day. Just trying to contribute to this team’s success as much as possible.”

Towns is being challenged on a lot of fronts at the same time, the first extended adversity he has faced as a pro. He remains at the top of a class with pretty good depth, especially the first five to seven, but also needs to snap out of whatever this is to keep the spot, and fast.

1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (Last week: 1)

Timberwolves at Knicks in two weeks (Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBA League Pass). The hype machine will be cranked to deafening. Towns has several important moments on the calendar before that, though: a rematch with DeAndre Jordan and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, plus two games against the Denver Nuggets and one of the better rookie centers, Nikola Jokic. Towns nay also face the Phoenix Suns’ Tyson Chandler, who remains an impactful interior defender, in the likely event Chandler is back from injury.

2. Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks (2)

Check out Dikembe Mutombo. Porzingis has seven, two, six, three and two blocks his last five outings, after not having more than two any of his first 13 games. That pushed him to 1.89 blocks a game, second in the class to Towns and ninth in the league. Even the biggest of Porzingis boosters could not have seen this coming. No wonder his minutes have gone through the roof, with 36, 37, 36, 24 and 41 in that same span.

3. Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ers (3)

Things haven’t been going so well on the court either. Amid what has become a string of reports of issues away from the game, Okafor is shooting just 41.6 percent in his last seven games, an especially bad number when nearly three quarters of his attempts this season come within 10 feet. He has continued to rebound well, though, with at least nine boards in four of the seven.

4. Nemanja Bjelica, Minnesota Timberwolves (4)

He missed four games with a bruised left knee, then had a strong return by making all four shots, including both behind the arc, Sunday against the Clippers. He has played 22 and 24 minutes the first two games back, a number that, based on his pre-injury work load, will probably increase. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound power forward is No. 2 in the class in 3-point percentage, along with fifth in rebounding, seventh in assists and eighth in scoring.

5. Justise Winslow, Miami Heat (5)

This has become about comparing Winslow to the entire league, not just rookies. He is eighth among all reserves in plus/minus and tied for eighth in fourth-quarter minutes off the bench, a strong endorsement of any first-year player and especially on a good team. Meanwhile, no one in the class is playing more minutes in the final period than his 9.4. A move up the Ladder could be coming.

6. T.J. McConnell, Philadelphia 76ers (6)

McConnell lost the starting job to Isaiah Canaan three games ago in a setback to a surprisingly good start. McConnell is still getting good minutes, is making the few shots he gets and is doing better at taking care of the ball after a bad couple weeks. He remained No. 1 in assists in the class, fourth in field-goal percentage,ninth in rebounding and 10th in scoring. But he should be hearing footsteps from Brooklyn and a former University of Arizona teammate.

7. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Brooklyn Nets (8)

He is consistently breaking 30 minutes now after reaching the number just once in the first 12 games. No wonder. Only Towns, Porzingis and Okafor are averaging more rebounds than the 6-foot-7 shooting guard, and RHJ’s surge to 6.3 boards has come with about six fewer minutes per game than any of the bigs in the top three. Plus, he is defending, making shots and had at least three steals in three of the last six games, including five on two different occasions in that stretch. No other rookie has had five steals once.

8. Emmanuel Mudiay, Denver Nuggets (7)

Okafor is the only rookie taking more shots per game than Mudiay’s 13.8 while D’Angelo Russell and Bjelica are the only ones getting more 3-pointers than the 3.5 of Mudiay. Okafor is the only first-year player averaging more minutes. The Nuggets are not backing off at all, despite Mudiay failing to break 30 percent from the field in three of the last five games, with a best of 37.5 in that stretch, and recording more than four assists once. The volume numbers keep him in the rankings, though. Mudiay is second in assists, within range of catching McConnell for the top spot, and fourth in scoring.

9. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (10)

While he has not had a big game in about a week, Jokic has been steady enough to stay in the top 10 in four rookie categories: shooting (second), scoring(seventh), rebounding (eighth) and blocks (tied for eighth), while also defending at a high level. Being ranked that high in four departments is especially noteworthy in the rare season when so many of the best newcomers are big men. With no timetable for Jusuf Nurkic‘s return from offseason surgery on his left leg, Jokic should continue to get a big chance to develop.

10. D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers (not ranked)

Russell started the season at No. 5, played his way off the list and off the court in the fourth quarter of games, and now returns on the strength of an increased role with the Lakers and better consistency. He was up to No. 3 in assists among rookies, No. 5 in scoring, No. 7 in 3-point percentage and No. 10 in shooting. Russell also had a bigger role down the stretch, rather than riding the bench for long stretches or the entire final period, as an important statement in the resurgence.

Dropped out: Willie Cauley-Stein (9).

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.

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