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Things have not exactly gone smoothly for Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves since the franchise selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 NBA draft, but the big man reportedly has not asked for a trade.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic explained the situation to SiriusXM NBA Radio (h/t RealGM):
“Karl-Anthony Towns has weathered a lot of drama in his six years here. The Jimmy Butler situation. He’s had a bunch of guys who have been president of basketball operations. He’s had a bunch of head coaches. There’s just been so much turmoil and tumult around him. You’ve seen stars ask out in other places and you say ‘Do you really need to go that far? Is that really necessary?’
“I think if he fired that bullet, I don’t think many people would disagree. It’s been a mess here.
“Now so far, there’s no indications that he’s ready to go that route. I know the team has engaged directly with him and his representation over the last 24 hours to really try… They’ve engaged with every player to try to send a new message and get everyone on board and let them know what they’re thinking and doing.”
The latest development happened Wednesday when the Timberwolves announced they parted ways with president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas.
Towns was seemingly among those who were surprised by the move, especially since it happened so close to the start of the 2021-22 season:
Ramona Shelburne @ramonashelburne
The timing Rosas of firing indeed caught players and those in the organization by surprise as Rosas was still holding meetings and in the gym this morning, sources tell me and <a href=”https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ZachLowe_NBA</a> <a href=”https://t.co/g9LBNU9jNs”>https://t.co/g9LBNU9jNs</a>
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reported that “Rosas was dismissed from his post with Minnesota only after ownership learned in recent days of a consensual extramarital affair between Rosas and a female Timberwolves staffer, who also parted ways with the franchise on Wednesday.”
On the court, the Timberwolves are coming off a 23-49 season after going 19-45 in 2019-20.
They have made the playoffs just once since the 2003-04 campaign, and that happened in 2017-18 with Towns leading the way. Yet they lost to the Houston Rockets in five games in the first round that season.
There are some building blocks in place with Towns, Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell, but competing in the Western Conference will be a daunting task. At least the team can take solace knowing Towns is not looking for a trade.
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