NBA Rumors: Karl-Anthony Towns Shuts Down Trade Rumors, Takes Swipe At Former Teammate

Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves is back in harness and seemed to pick up from where he left off. Though they lost, 114-116, Towns ended up with 27 points and 5 rebounds. And as one would expect, recent talk about him possibly being dealt was asked.

Towns set the record straight and said that he paid no attention to all the trade chatter. He is happy with the Timberwolves and even mentioned how he is lucky to have a head coach in Ryan Saunders and a friend in Gersson Rosas. The 24-year-old center is not worried about getting shipped, adding this team is no longer like the "circus" it used to be, the Star Tribune reported.

“Whatever we have to deal with in house, we’ll deal with in house, but this ain’t the circus like it used to be. This is something that’s going to be done as a family. If we have a problem or anything, we’ll deal with it internally. We won’t have any external forces here adding anything,” said the top pick of the 2015 NBA Draft.

Critics believe that Towns inadvertently took a swipe at former teammate Jimmy Butler with the "circus" comments. Most know how Minnesota had its issues when Butler was still around. The 30-year-old who is now with the Miami Heat, questioned the willingness of the franchise back in 2018. The four-time All-Star also had his qualms with Towns and Andrew Wiggins, Yahoo Sports reported.

Since the departure of Butler, things have hardly changed. However, it paved the way for Towns to break out and show the NBA why he truly belongs there. He is now a two-time NBA All-Star and was amply rewarded with a five-year $158 million contract deal. Clearly, the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year is a foundation piece the Timberwolves want to keep.

For this season, KAT has produced improved numbers compared to his career averages. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Towns has averaged 26.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 24 games. Minnesota totes a 15-27 win-loss card and holds low chances of making the NBA postseason wars. Despite his return, the T-Wolves have lost five-straight games.

Minnesota is expected to continue and build around Towns moving forward. Wiggins is there but it remains that more talent is needed. Could that happen this summer?