WASHINGTON D.C. — Drama surrounded Karl-Anthony Towns this week, though the center claims that his Twitter account was hacked when he had “FreeKAT” trending on the platform.
“Honestly, I woke up this morning, my agent hit me up and was like, ‘Karl, what is this?’” Towns said of the tweet (via Dane Moore of Blue Wire). “I was like, ‘What the f— are you talking about?’ I hadn’t woke up yet for the whole day.”
While Towns may or may not have actually expressed his frustration via Twitter, there has been widespread speculation about the center wanting out of Minnesota.
The Wizards are positioned to make a move. The team has optionality following the Russell Westbrook-Lakers trade with several vets on mid-sized contracts as well as a handful of young prospects. Washington is out a 2023 first-rounder (via the John Wall trade), though otherwise, they have a fully stocked cupboard of first-round picks.
Cobbling together a competitive package for Towns may depend on how highly the franchise actually values Deni Avdija or Rui Hachimura, as either would be seen as a blue-chip piece in the package. The Wolves had interest in Avdija leading up to the 2020 NBA Draft. It’s also worth noting that Minnesota had interest in Kyle Kuzma dating back to 2020 when the forward was on the Lakers.
The Timberwolves are not looking to trade Towns now. The two-time All-Star is under contract through the 2023-24 season, though at some point they will have to think hard about making the move and shifting the hierarchy of the franchise over to Anthony Edwards. If that moment comes sooner than later, the Wizards are one of the teams in a position to pounce.
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