5 reasons Tom Thibodeau will win a title with Timberwolves

5. Karl-Anthony Towns as a go-to scorer

Before Karl-Anthony Towns was taken with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Timberwolves had a great deal of talent, but they relied on their wing players to score. Andrew Wiggins was meant to become a star overnight after he was traded for Kevin Love, Zach LaVine had high expectations, and Ricky Rubio (who still struggles to shoot despite some improvements this season) was the man responsible for stringing every together at point.

Regardless of how talented each of those players are, not to mention the potential of LaVine and Wiggins in particular, there was a lot of emphasis on perimeter players and a new Love-less void in the frontcourt. After all, what can 38-year-old Kevin Garnett or Nikola Pekovic do to share the load?

Now, Wiggins doesn’t even need to be the Timberwolves’ number one guy. Because with the way Towns has excelled offensively after averaging 18.3 points per game on 54.3 percent shooting, they have a new offensive superstar in the making.

His footwork in the post is already incredibly refined for someone who’s only 20 years old, being perfectly complimented by his soft touch near the basket on drives or simple hook shots. With such ability down low, he’s honing the kind of back-to-the-basket scoring that few big men have in today’s NBA. On top of that, Towns has been far better from distance than he should have been.

He made 30 three-pointers at a 34.1 percent rate this season, and that’s just the beginning for a shot that wasn’t even a key part of his offense. Instead, as he showed such reliability in pick-and-pops with Rubio or even coming off screens from time to time, Towns took 28 percent of his shots from 16-24 feet out, making them at a ridiculous 50.6 percent rate.

For the record, that’s at least five percent higher than both Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.

The rate at which Towns has polished his game is remarkable, and he’s become a scorer with far more finesse, poise, and range than anyone could have expected by this point.

Now that this ability is a guarantee and is only set to improve, the Timberwolves are so much closer to playoff contention with him onboard than they were a year ago. And after such an exceptional rookie season, Thibodeau may be coming along at just the right time to further the momentum that’s starting to build.

Next: 4. Andrew Wiggins only needs to be the 'number two' guy