Almost two decades ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Kevin Garnett, a lanky, rangy high-schooler who would grow to defy positions and revolutionize the NBA. In June, they drafted Karl-Anthony Towns, who, though not a high-schooler, bears an incredible resemblance to KG in terms of skill and position. Towns still has a long way to go before he becomes the player he can be, but he has the unique fortune of being mentored by Garnett. Towns, for one, can’t wait. As he told Michael Lee of the Washington Post:
“It’s going to be huge,” Towns said with a grin. “When you have a person like him, you have a legend on your team, it makes all the difference. He’s allowing me to have an experience that I couldn’t get from anyone else but him. He’s a champion, so we know what we need to do to be a championship team. So when you’re talking about a player, you’re talking about one the greatest talents this league has ever had. So [I plan on] just picking his brain, educating myself about the game and becoming a better player.”
Towns isn’t quite identical to KG. His frame is a little more filled out, he’s maybe a bit more polished in some aspects, and he’s not yet certifiably insane. Nevertheless, he’s maybe as close to a Garnett clone as we’ve seen since the future Hall-of-Famer came into the league. Towns has the size, agility and intelligence to be a game-changer on both ends of the ball, but his impact will likely first come on defense. Garnett’s tutelage will help immensely here, not just in teaching Towns the finer tactical points of defense, but also how to communicate on defense, an area in which Garnett has had elite skill for almost his entire career.
When the Wolves initially had KG, they failed time and again to surround him with a competent and complementary roster. If Towns is the next Garnett, or at least the next version of him, that won’t be a problem this time. Already, the Wolves are stacked with young talent, including Andrew Wiggins, who looks to be a franchise player, if not an outright star. A fully realized Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Towns, if it happens, will be one of the scariest trios in the NBA.
Under KG’s supervision, that future has a great chance of coming to pass.
(Via Washington Post)
