Former Kentucky Wildcats big man Karl-Anthony Towns is locked in as the #1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Flip Saunders and the Minnesota Timberwolves have their sights set; according to an overwhelming consensus of the top NBA mock drafts on the web. KAT has only worked out for one NBA team- the T’Wolves. So he seems to know exactly where he’s headed Thursday night.
John Calipari met the media to discuss Kentucky’s NBA Draft prospects, and he articulated why Towns is a good fit for the T-Wolves.
“There’s two things for Minnesota and Minnesota’s fans:”
“The first thing is he is an unbelievable teammate. I want you to understand he’s the No. 1 pick, he played (only) 24 minutes, and was fine, and cheered on Willie (Cauley-Stein), and did everything he could to get Willie going.”
“The second thing is, he likes Minnesota. He said from day one, ‘I’ll go to Minnesota. I love it. Let’s build something.’
Coach Cal gave T’Wolves a lot to get excited about. Here’s where we have big KAT slottted in our latest NBA mock draft:
1. Minnesota-Karl-Anthony Towns, PF/C, Kentucky, 7-0, Fr.
The T-Wolves could use a frontcourt running mate for Nikola Pekovic and with how Towns continued to develop as the season progressed, he moved into conversations surrounding the top pick. His versatility on the offensive end makes him a better fit in Minnesota than Jahlil Okafor.
Towns doesn’t just win individual match-ups and win basketball games; he wins the press conference too. And I don’t mean winning the presser in terms of saying what the organization wants. He’s much more entertaining and interesting than your typical basketball star. Take this colorful exchange from the Champions Classic in Indianapolis last November.
Karl-Anthony Towns on the platoon system: “I really love it. It gives everyone a fair chance, but at the same time it gives us the ability to go balls – just go up to the – just go hard to the wall all the time.”
Calipari: “What?” (Laughter) “Did he say that? Stop. Wipe that out. I’m telling you, he’s a great kid. He really is.”
Towns: “It allows us to go real hard all the time.”
Coach Cal got a big laugh out of it too. It made for good times and laughter all around.
Here is the Karl-Anthony Towns highlight reel:
“The character, I don’t think there’s any question. Everybody that’s ever come in contact with him (loves him). The Timberwolves have probably contacted, and they’re like, oh my gosh, he’s one of the great kids of all-time – and he is,” Calipari said.
We had the same exact impression when we met Karl Anthony Towns. The podcast below is from our exclusive conversation with him.
“People think I’m changing my name more than Puff Daddy,” he said when I asked him about his Karl Towns or Karl-Anthony Towns said.
KAT is the perfect “face of the franchise” player for Minnesota to pair with their other main building block Andrew Wiggins. Karl-Anthony Towns has the perfect personality to help market and promote a struggling, rebuilding team.
“When you’re building a franchise and trying to get it done like Flip (Saunders) and Milt (Newton) are right now, which are with young guys – veteran guys understand how you’ve got to be together and how you have to be a great teammate to make it work,” said Calipari.
“Young guys are going into the league just trying to score and get paid. Karl comes in, he is a great teammate. But more importantly, for the fans and the team up there, he said, ‘Let’s go Minnesota!’”
Kentucky Wildcats NBA Draft profile series
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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