Timberwolves could reportedly look to trade Karl-Anthony Towns "in the next few weeks"

Could Karl-Anthony Towns find himself on a new team for the upcoming season? Rumors are beginning to swirl around the possibility it happens sooner rather than later.

On Friday, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus reported that the Minnesota Timberwolves, which selected Towns with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, could be looking to trade the seven-footer. Following a blockbuster trade last offseason that brought Rudy Gobert to Minnesota and produced limited results in the regular season and playoffs, there is a belief that the Wolves will look to move off of Towns.

The Minnesota front office will have to spend tens (likely hundreds) of millions of dollars to re-sign Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels this summer (while also paying top dollar for Gobert), which could put them in a tough position with Towns, who is owed over $36 million for the 2023-24 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.

“Other competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign,” Pincus wrote. “Some even believe Minnesota would jump at an opportunity in the next few weeks.”

Due to rule changes in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, Minnesota would not be able to properly pay all four of Towns, Gobert, Edwards, and McDaniels. Towns will be eligible to make upwards of $50 million per season on his next deal.

Here's the full(er) context:
"Other competing executives think Karl-Anthony Towns will be long gone ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.

Some even believe Minnesota would jump at an opportunity in the next few weeks"https://t.co/m1eh7d35qF https://t.co/LUazr9R9ra

— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) June 9, 2023

Towns, a three-time All-Star, recently wrapped up his eighth NBA season — all with the Timberwolves. But due to a calf strain he suffered early into the ’22-23 campaign, Towns missed over 50 straight games for Minnesota, which finished the season 42-40 and with a loss in the first round of the playoffs to the top-seeded Denver Nuggets.

In spite of missing over half the season, Towns still managed per-game averages of 20.8 points (his lowest since his rookie season), 8.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 33 minutes on shooting splits of 49.5/36.6/87.4. His fit alongside Gobert — a defensive-minded seven-footer with very limited offensive skills — was always questionable, but considering Towns’ long absence, Minnesota was never given a chance to truly test if that combination could work in the frontcourt.

Pincus proposed a potential deal that would send Towns to the Houston Rockets, where he would link up alongside James Harden, who currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers but has been rumored to be looking for a return to Houston.