For Karl-Anthony Towns, the 2022-23 campaign of the Minnesota Timberwolves is considerably a plain failure in hindsight.
As he made an appearance as a guest in Paul George’s Podcast P, Towns can only get genuine about the shortcomings and struggles of the Wolves after developing high hopes and aspirations prior to the start of the season.
“Yes,” Towns responded to the L.A. Clippers star when asked if their last season was a failure (h/t HoopsHype). “I only say that because we made all these big trades to succeed in the playoffs and the fact we didn’t make it out of the first round is a failure for us because we want to win a championship, we want to have a chance.”
After they hired Tim Connelly as their newest front office bossman in last year’s offseason, the executive orchestrated a bold move that trembled the entire NBA by acquiring Rudy Gobert in exchange for a massive package that involved the team’s four future first-round picks. As they hoped that the French tower would serve as a game changer that would catapult them towards legitimate contention, situations went upside down for Minnesota throughout this year.
In their first year of partnership, both Towns and Gobert struggled to mesh up their offense-defense play style. The duo only managed to share a limited exposure together as the Wolves’ newest imposing frontcourt as Towns missed 51 regular season games due to his tricky calf injury.
In hopes to integrate more of Gobert’s effectiveness to the club, Connelly proceeded to land Mike Conley Jr. last trade deadline. Though the veteran floor general helped tremendously, Minnesota still underperformed and only managed to qualify to the NBA Playoffs as a Play-In survivor in the West.
As their frustrating season ended via first-round exit against the top-seed Denver Nuggets, the Wolves are preparing themselves for the offseason. Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels are slated to be eligible for a rookie extension, while reliable backup big Naz Reid will become an unrestricted free-agent.
