While it might technically be too late to advocate for Karl-Anthony Towns’
inclusion in the 2019 All-Star Game, it’s not too late to illustrate how worthy
he is of earning a spot.
Towns is in the middle of arguably the best season of his young career–he’s
averaging 22.8 points 12.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.0 steals per
game. He’s also shooting 50 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three
on a career-high 4.6 attempts from beyond the arc. Towns ranks No. 11 in the
league in points, and Anthony Davis is the only center who has scored more
points or averages more points per game. Towns is also No. 5 in total rebounds
and No. 9 in rebounds per game. He’s No. 8 in offensive rebounds per game, and
No. 8 in blocks per game as well.
Here’s another one. How many players have averaged 20+ points per game, 10+
rebounds per game, 1.5+ threes per game, 1.5+ blocks per game and shot over .500
percent from the field on a season? One. Towns, this season. The stats don’t
lie–Towns is among the league’s best.
Those numbers are great in a vacuum but put into the context of the season
they’re even more impressive. Towns is growing before our eyes from a player who
was the second option on his team to a player who is capable of dominating as
the main star. It’s not an easy task to be the focal point of opponents’ game
plans–Towns is seeing more and more double teams as soon as he catches the
ball, and teams are daring Towns to beat them in any other way than going at
them in the post. Here’s the thing though, he’s doing it.
Towns’ 3.1 assists are a career high–he’s scratching triple-double threat
territory on what feels like a nightly basis now, and he’s had 19 games with
four or more assists this season, including two seven-assist outings in his last
five. Towns will never be a pure passing big man, it would simply not be a good
use of his skills, but his ability to make teams pay for pressuring him by
putting his teammates in good positions has been critical to his success.
That’s not to say that Towns isn’t doing damage of his own on the offensive end.
Towns is shooting 58.9 percent of his shots inside 10 feet and converting those
at a 58.2 percent clip. That’s extremely efficient. An additional 25.6 percent
of Towns’ shots are catch-and-shoot three-pointers and he shoots 39.5 percent on
those looks.
A common criticism of Towns has been his defense. Star centers in the NBA have
to be able to anchor defenses–Towns has shown vast improvement on that side of
the ball this season. While foul trouble has been an issue of late, Towns’
positioning has improved dramatically over the past year, and he’s averaging
career highs in blocked shots and in steals. Towns’ blocks aren’t empty stats
either–though he occasionally gets beat on passes after coming to help on a
guard driving into the paint, Towns has been finding more and more ways to
affect shots without leaving his man open. The Wolves have been an average
defensive team this year, but that is an improvement from last year when they
were near the bottom of the league. It would be foolish not to give Towns credit
for contributing to that improvement.
There are nights when Towns can be frustrating to watch as he navigates the
difficult waters of turning from a very, very good player into a great one, but
nevertheless we are seeing the big man’s best campaign to date. Towns has proven
this year that he’s capable of being a star, and he’s only continuing to grow.
The Wolves franchise cornerstone deserves to be an All-Star this year, and will
continue to for years to come–let’s hope the coaches feel the same way.
Player: Karl-Anthony Towns
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earance
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