Time and separation have only seemed to enhance Tom Thibodeau’s opinion of Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves star power forward — and potential Knicks trade target — who is coming to the Garden on Saturday night for a preseason contest.
“Watching the progress he’s made throughout his career, he’s as gifted as they come,” Thibodeau said.
“When you look at an offensive player, particularly a big, the skill set that he has, I think we all saw, to win the 3-point contest and stuff like that, there’s nothing he can’t do offensively. He has continued to get better I think. He had some injuries to deal with. I watched him play in FIBA [the World Cup, for the Dominican Republic], he played really well there. He’s really, really gifted.”
Although a seemingly poor fit together in Minnesota, multiple sources stated that Thibodeau would welcome coaching Towns again.
That’s relevant if Towns hits the trade market, and the Knicks, according to sources, are monitoring his situation.
Last season was a disaster for the Timberwolves. They mortgaged their future in a trade for Rudy Gobert, but barely made the playoffs and were trounced in the first round.
Towns only played 29 games last season — mostly because of a severe calf strain — and never connected on the court with Gobert.
The hope is for a rejuvenated campaign from the Timberwolves under the new ownership group featuring Alex Rodriguez.
With Team USA star Anthony Edwards also on the roster, they certainly have the talent to make noise in the West.
Thibodeau was both the Minnesota coach and team president before he was fired midway through his third season in 2019.
Much of the dysfunction during that stint stemmed from a toxic relationship between Towns and star teammate Jimmy Butler.
After Butler and Thibodeau left, the Timberwolves had three straight losing seasons but Towns continued to develop into a 7-foot 3-point marksman.
In July, Towns declared that his impact on the NBA will prove timeless.
“I feel like when my time’s up, and I retire and I put the shoes up … I feel like there’s people that’s gonna say that I changed the game,” Towns said on Pat Beverley’s podcast. “And I’m gonna be very appreciative of that. When this is all over, there’s gonna be kids coming up saying that they’re gonna be able to play a different way because I played in the NBA and did it a different way.”
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