Karl-Anthony Towns Agrees to Maximum Contract Extension with Timberwolves

Finally some good news comes tonight, as Woj and others report that Karl-Anthony Towns has agreed to a five-year extension, committing him to Minnesota through the 2023-24 season.

The extension is the maximum allowed, and will either be worth $190 million (if Towns makes an All-NBA team this season or wins MVP or DPOY in the next two seasons) or roughly $158 million if he does not meet those conditions.

If he qualifies for the super max, his salary in 2019-20 will be roughly $32.7M, if he does’t, it will be a bit north of $27M. Either way his yearly salary will escalate from there.

This is massive news after a brutal week for Wolves fans, but suggests that there was at least some truth to the him-or-me ultimatum. With Jimmy Butler clearly on his way out, Towns agrees to the deal that was presented to his agent in July.

Towns released a statement, which reads in part:

I promise to the fans, my teammates and the organization to keep the vision of the man who drafted me, Flip Saunders, alive and treat his dream of winning with respect and dignity. To the fans from Day One and the Timberwolves fans, this is for you. Thank you for believing in me.

Nice shoutout to Flip there...but is that a subtle jab at Tom Thibodeau? You be the judge.

At any rate, this is obviously fantastic news for the Wolves. Towns is now the undisputed center of the franchise. Now it’s on him to live up to it.

UPDATE:

Karl has good PR people