With a 36-46 record during the 2018-2019 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t make the NBA Playoffs.
Some could argue that is with due to the departure of Jimmy Butler.
For those tardy to the party: the Wolves traded Butler to the Sixers last November in exchange for Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, Dario Šarić and a 2022 second-round draft pick.
Was a shame! Butler stat line was incredible. He averaged 21.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.4 steals in 10 games last season with the Timberwolves.
Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns did not always see eye to eye.
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Yahoo’s Chris Haynes tells me that Butler may have made Towns tougher.
“Man look, he has all the talent in the world,” said Haynes.
“Big man position, he can step out and face the basket, put the ball on the floor. Got post moves, his pivots are pretty impeccable. I won’t call it heart, but I think it’s about mental toughness. He has to fighting through, handling adversity, those were some of the issues that Jimmy Butler had with him last year, just trying to toughen him up. If he can get to the point where he is just a force, regardless of the circumstances, he’s gonna be up there, though! can get to the point where he is just a force, regardless of the circumstances. He’s gonna be up there though! For a moment there, we didn’t know who to pick from him or Joel Embiid. But Karl, if he can get that mental toughness down, he can be in for the conversation.”
The first pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Kentucky, Karl Anthony-Towns is effecient.
Towns has a solid back to the basket game, a consistent face-up jumper, a three-point shot and a slick dribble.
Towns hit above 40 percent from the three point line for the second straight season, last season.
Two season ago,the Wolves lost 4-1 in round one of the NBA Playoffs to a Houston Rockets team that eventually made it to the Western Conference Finals. Towns finished the series averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds.
It’s all about growth for Towns and one of his mentors is in his corner: Kevin Garnett.
“He’s the future,” Kevin Garnett told me via ScoopB.com.
Kevin Garnett was very instrumental to Towns’ growth during his first year in the NBA. “He continuously told me to be patient,” Karl Towns told me.
“Being patient on the court, everything will begin to slow down. I mean, just how to be a professional, how to be a professional in this game on and off the court. Just to do my best to lead and that’s the biggest thing.”
During the offseason, the Timberwolves signed Jordan Bell, Jake Layman and Shabazz Napier while drafting former Texas Tech Red Raider Jarrett Culver with the sixth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
They will also get back Robert Covington, who missed time last season with a knee injury.
