Karl-Anthony Towns Signs Four-Year $224 Million Supermax Extension With Wolves

Pay. The. Man.

Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Karl-Anthony Towns has signed a four-year, $224 million supermax contract extension that will keep him in Minnesota through the 2027-28 season, the team announced this evening. Towns’ deal will be 35% of the team’s salary cap, with 8% annual raises in each season of the contract.

“I couldn’t be prouder to continue my commitment to this franchise and community for years to come. Minnesota has become my home and I am excited to continue making the fans proud to support the Timberwolves,” Towns said in a press release. “My first seven years in the league, it has been an amazing journey. It all started with Flip Saunders taking a chance on me and now here we are. I look forward to all the achievements that are ahead for our team and the Timberwolves fanbase.”

“Karl will go down as one of the best players to ever wear a Timberwolves uniform and we can’t wait to see him back on the court this season and for seasons beyond,” the Timberwolves Ownership Group said via statement. “We thank Karl for everything he’s done for our community and look forward to continuing to see his positive impact both on and off the court.”

The do-it-all unicorn averaged 24.6 points on 52.9/41.0/82.2 shooting splits, 9.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.1 blocks in 33.5 minutes per game across 74 contests on his way to earning his third All-Star appearance, as well as his second Third Team All-NBA honors, which unlocked this supermax extension.

“Karl’s number 32 will one day hang in the rafters of Target Center and this contract extension represents how much he means to this franchise and community,” Wolves’ President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly said. “He has done so much for the Timberwolves and I’m thrilled he’ll be back for many years to come.”

It is important to keep at the forefront that this transformational offseason would be possible without Towns. The Timberwolves wouldn’t have been in a position to acquire a future Hall of Famer such as Rudy Gobert that will help keep them in Western Conference contention for years to come if Towns didn’t fight tooth and nail to bring this team out of the gutter, even before the acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards. Hell, the Wolves may not even be in Minnesota if KAT understandably decided he needed a change of scenery.

Through all the downs he has experienced with this franchise, he had every excuse to opt out. Instead, he bore the brunt of losing season after losing season with class and remained a positive role model and ambassador for the Minnesota community. That cannot go unnoticed.

Back in March, I wrote about how Towns, 26, changed his tone and the franchise’s trajectory along with it. He revolutionized his image around the league by transforming the Timberwolves from perennial laughing stock to a playoff team quickly on the rise, making good on his promise to the late, great Flip Saunders that he bring playoff NBA basketball back to Target Center.

That culminated with an incredible, franchise-record-setting 60-point performance (including 56 in the first three quarters) in a win over the San Antonio Spurs on March 14.

That came on the heels of Towns becoming the first big man since former Timberwolf Kevin Love in 2012 to win the NBA All-Star 3-point Contest with a record-setting final round performance.

Towns deserves every penny that is coming his way. For everything he has endured in Minnesota as a basketball player, all the losing, all the instability, all the chaos, he has been the team’s only constant since he entered the league. He’s kept his head down, embraced the grind, improved in a meaningful way in every season, and finally felt all the love he deserves in year seven.

The future in Minnesota is brighter than it has ever been, and Karl-Anthony Towns’ ascension into superstardom is at the middle of it.

I know I speak for everyone at Canis Hoopus when I say that I am incredibly grateful to have KAT as a member of the greater Minneapolis community, where he will continue to not only excel as a basketball player, but also change lives with the money coming his way.

Towns was nominated for the season long NBA Cares Community Assist Award, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, and just this week became one of four nominees — in all of sports — for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award, which will be a announced at the 2022 ESPYs on July 20. You can read more about Towns’ community work here.

He has committed himself to driving change on the floor and in the community, and will continue his work as a cornerstone for the Wolves and Minnesota in the years to come.