The arc of the Minnesota Timberwolves is long, but it bends toward mediocrity

The jury's in on the Karl-Anthony Towns trade: it was a mistake.

Good morning. Happy holidays.

Let’s basketball.

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An Orange Note; James McNeill Whistler; 1884

Karl-Anthony Towns made his official return to Minnesota to face the team that traded him before the season. And he had as dominant a game as he has ever had.

This can be viewed as a confirmation that the Timberwolves, now 14-12 and No. 8 in the West after spending last season in play for the No. 1 seed, screwed up by trading Towns for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a pick.

But these trades are indeed graded on longer timescales. The Knicks essentially rebuilt their squad as an offense-first team around Jalen Brunson and Towns, and the jury’s out on whether that offense will be good enough to rival the Celtics and Cavaliers in the playoffs (with the Bucks and Magic likely to have something to say about it). The Wolves didn’t trade for Randle entirely because of Randle. In the fall-out from the trade the team made clear that financial flexibility heading into the 2025 offseason is an important factor. What the future will hold is whether that’s true and the team wasn’t actually just cutting future payroll by unloading Towns, and whether Tim Connelly and the club can actually turn Randle or his salary slot into something that fits neater than Towns.

This is all to say that while it looks like the Timberwolves broke up a title contender for no good reason … you know what, I can’t do it. I tried to be patient, I tried to be more rational than your average analyst. It looks like the Timberwolves broke up a title contender for no good reason. End of statement. No “but.” No “however.” No “that said.” It looks like the Timberwolves broke up a title contender for no good reason.

The arc of the Minnesota Timberwolves is long, but it bends toward mediocrity.