All-NBA big man Karl-Anthony Towns will sign a four-year, $224 million supermax contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves that runs through the 2027-28 NBA season, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The extension is in addition to the $70 million Towns is owed over the next two seasons.
Newly hired Timberwolves executive Tim Connelly hinted this deal was coming when he recently informed The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, “He’s special and deserves everything that is going to come his way.”
Towns was even more vague when addressing his contract situation at this past season’s end.
“I love this city, so obviously things will happen this summer. When they happen, they happen,” he said, mystifying what financially was a simple decision. “I’ve been here so long, I don’t like making prophecies. I’ll let it come if it comes. And if it comes, it comes, and then we will deal with it when it comes.”
Towns rivals retired Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki as the greatest shooter taller than 6-foot-10 in the NBA’s history. The 26-year-old has shot 40% on four 3-point attempts per game over seven seasons.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2015, Towns averaged 24.6 points (on 53/41/82 shooting splits), 9.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 combined blocks and steals in 33.5 minutes per game last season. He led the Timberwolves to a seventh seed in the playoffs, where they lost a six-game, first-round series to the Memphis Grizzlies.
It was just the second time Minnesota has reached the playoffs in Towns’ tenure.
With Towns operating alongside rising star — and fellow No. 1 overall pick (2020) — Anthony Edwards, the Wolves posted the NBA’s best offensive rating post-New Year’s Day, scoring 118.4 points per 100 possessions. The emergence of Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaden McDaniels, along with the addition of Patrick Beverley, strengthened the defense on a roster that also features offensive-minded guards D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley. Together, they were one of the league’s best teams in the second half of last season.
For his part, Towns made the All-NBA third team, qualifying for this supermax extension. His career on the court in Minnesota was marked first by great promise, and then by tumult, as All-Stars Zach LaVine, Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins have all come and gone. The loss of his mother and six other family members to the COVID-19 brought tragedy off the court, and he used it all as fuel for a career season in 2021-22.
In 2016, half of the league’s general managers said in an annual survey, if they were starting a franchise and could sign any player in the NBA, Towns was their top pick. He may have faded from that list, but his latest contract is a reminder that at least one franchise is still comfortable making him its face all these years later.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a type? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach