Karl-Anthony Towns: 16 percent
The Timberwolves’ payroll will explode next season and they are not a team used to spending that kind of money, so they almost have to make a trade and KAT is the most likely to go.
KAT is having a fantastic season and was just named an All-Star, but he is owed a TON of money (around $220 million) over the next four seasons. Even with KAT putting up monster numbers of 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists on outstanding shooting splits of 51.7 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from 3-point range on 7.7 attempts per game, there aren’t going to be a lot of teams lining up to pay out the rest of that salary.
Given how much he is owed, the price to get KAT won’t be as high as some other stars, especially when teams are well aware of his limitations on the defensive end.
Does he even fit on Detroit? I’m not sure. The two-big thing works in Minnesota because Rudy Gobert is an elite defender, which the Pistons don’t have. If Duren steps up into that role, then possibly, as KAT does play mostly on the perimeter and is jacking a ton of threes and making them at a high clip. He’d be the Pistons’ best shooter.
If Minnesota could clear KAT and bring back a couple of high-level players to replace his shooting, they might not miss a beat next season and will be in a much better place financially.
But if they make a deep playoff run and KAT is a big part of it, then who knows, maybe they will decide to ship out someone else.
Minnesota is a team to watch either way.
KAT would not be my preference, but if we are being honest with ourselves, he might be the best chance for the Pistons to get an All-Star and those chances are still very low.
As you can see, the Pistons aren’t likely to get ANY of these players regardless of the context, so even with all of their financial flexibility, it won’t be easy for them to add the sort of impact talent they need.