Timberwolves Select Top Prospect Karl-Anthony Towns With First Overall Pick

The Wolves made the pick everyone expected at the top of the draft: Karl-Anthony Towns from the University of Kentucky. Towns is broadly considered the best prospect in the draft because of his diversity of skills and ability to excel on both sides of the ball.

We've spent a lot of time discussing Towns as well as the other prospects available in this draft, so no need for a long description of his game from me. He looks like he has the chance to become both a shot-blocking defensive force around the basket, and a finisher on offense who also has the chance to develop as a threat from the perimeter.

Key Dae wrote a fantastic and detailed piece about his potential in the modern NBA with teams spreading out more and more and using pick and roll as the primary weapon, featuring more agile and skilled big men. I highly recommend you read that piece if you haven't already done so.

Rookies, especially rookie bigs, take time, so it's unreasonable to expect stardom right away for Towns. But with luck, he will eventually become the anchor of a good defense (something the Wolves, the worst defensive team in the NBA) sorely need, while also contributing to an offense that features Ricky Rubio led pick and rolls and Andrew Wiggins creating opportunities for himself and, hopefully, others. If he is in fact able to stretch the floor from a front court position, it adds a dimension that is becoming increasingly important in the NBA.

For more on Towns, here are a couple of videos (strengths and weaknesses) from Draft Express.

Of course it's going to take time. But for the first time since Rubio, Kevin Love, and Nikola Pekovic were all healthy, it seems like the Wolves might have a core of guys who can get them out of the cellar and back in the playoffs. Karl-Anthony Towns is going to be a major part of that.

It's a good night.