If the Portland Trail Blazers plan on keeping Damian Lillard around and contending next season, some major roster upgrades are needed. Whether that means trading young potential building blocks like Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, and/or Portland’s lottery pick, making a playoff push would require significant changes.
The Blazers needs include size, defense, veteran experience, depth at point guard and center, and shooting. Without a lot of wiggle room under the salary cap, it’ll be difficult for general manager Joe Cronin to fill those needs through free agency. He’ll likely need to turn to the trade market if he wants to make any additions that would truly move the roster needle.
A recent rumor linking the Blazers with Minnesota Timberwolves’ center Karl-Anthony Towns would fill at least two of those needs: size and shooting. It would likely take a significant haul to land Towns, though – would he be worth it for Portland?
2 reasons the Trail Blazers should pursue Karl-Anthony Towns
1. Size
The term “size” is vague, but in Towns’ case, it would include literal size as well as rebounding and an interior defensive presence. The Trail Blazers have a version of that on the roster already in Jusuf Nurkic, but KAT is a much more skilled offensive player, and while he may not be the most agile big man in the league, he certainly has more lateral quickness and athleticism than Nurk.
Towns owns career averages of 23.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks. He grabbed more than 12 rebounds per game for three straight seasons from 2016-17 to ’18-19, two of which were All-NBA campaigns.
Nurkic’s season high in rebounding came in 2021-22, when he averaged 11.1 boards. He hasn’t managed to grab double-digit rebounds in two of the past three seasons, and has only averaged more than one block once in the last three years, when he posted 1.1 a night in 37 games in 2020-21.
Even if Nurk is sent packing in a deal for Towns, the Timberwolves’ big man would be a significant upgrade in the front court, and Cronin could find a backup big on the cheap in free agency to pair with Drew Eubanks for depth.
2. Offense/shooting
As mentioned, KAT is perhaps the most skilled offensive center in the NBA. At 6-foot-11 and 253 pounds, he can score from all three levels and does so on a consistent basis.
He’s completed eight seasons in the NBA. In those eight season’s he’s been:
- Top 20 in points per game four times
- Top 12 in total points four times
- Top 16 in field-goal percentage four times
- Top 20 in true shooting percentage six times
- Top 11 in made field goals five times
- Top 8 in offensive win shares four times
- Top 19 in offensive box plus minus six times
He’s also 13th in NBA history in offensive rating and has shot better than 40 percent from three in four different seasons. He’s a career 39.5 percent shooter from deep and has an NBA 3-Point Contest title to his name.
2 reasons its best to steer clear of Towns
1. Big-game failures
Towns doesn’t have the highest basketball IQ and seems to struggle in big moments. Those are not traits you want from one of your star players if you’re hoping to push for a championship.
As the Timberwolves’ No. 1 option for most of his career, KAT has only made the playoffs three times and has played a total of 16 postseason games, where his career averages experience a drop-off.
His scoring falls to 18.6 ppg and he only shoots 47.1 percent from the floor and just 33.3 percent from three. He also averages nearly four fouls and turns the ball over almost four times per game.
He averaged 4.5 turnovers and 4.2 personal fouls in Minnesota’s first-round loss to the Memphis Grizzlies two seasons ago.
Whether Towns shies away from the big moments or simply tightens up, this isn’t just a one-off, but a concerning trend. Flaking out in the postseason is the last thing the Blazers need.
2. Contract
The 27-year-old still has $36 million owed next season from his max rookie extension. He signed another deal with the T-Wolves for four years and $224 million that runs through at least ’26-27 and has a player option for ’27-28, his age-31 season.
Not only is that a huge amount of money to take on, it would be difficult for the Blazers to match that salary in a trade. The only Portland player on that kind of contract is Lillard, and if Cronin has to deal away Dame to add Towns, there’s no point in entertaining the conversation.
If Lillard is staying, a package such as Simons, Nurkic, and Nassir Little could match salaries. The Blazers would be left with Lillard, Sharpe, and Towns as their big three, perhaps with Jerami Grant in tow if the contracts work, which certainly makes the team more balanced.
It’s a hefty contract to absorb, however, and debatable whether Portland is better off just keeping Simons on a team-friendly deal.
Still, adding someone with Towns’ skill set as a big rebounder, rim-deterrent, floor-spacer, and go-to offensive option wouldn’t be the worst type of player Portland could add this summer.