Healthy again, Towns makes anticipated return to Timberwolves

President of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has a vision for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After making big changes to the Wolves’ roster at the 2019-20 trade deadline, Rosas has surrounded All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell with a core of promising young talent.

Each Thursday, we’ll be tracking the progress of these young players while also keeping up with the G League Iowa Wolves to see who will rise to the challenge of bringing a consistent, winning team to Minnesota.

This is the 6th edition of the 2020-21 Young Wolves Tracker.

SPOTLIGHT ON …

Center Karl-Anthony Towns

The Big KAT is back.

Towns had been on COVID-19 protocol since he tested positive Jan. 15. Twenty-seven days and 13 missed games later, Towns returned to the court Wednesday and tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds in in Minnesota’s 119-112 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

It was just his fifth game of the season — Towns also missed six contests early in the campaign due to a wrist injury.

KAT IS BACK.@KarlTowns | #Timberwovles pic.twitter.com/rPrU27Dl2g

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) February 11, 2021

Unsurprisingly, Towns has a double-double in all five games he’s appeared in. Since he entered the league in 2015-16, Towns has logged 265 double-doubles in 363 games. Only Cleveland center Andre Drummond has more in that span, registering 311 in 400 contests.

He’s shooting 47.4% from the floor (37 of 78) and 34.8% from 3-point range (8 of 23) this season.

Although Towns was back, the Wolves roster still didn’t stand at full strength against the Clippers, as D’Angelo Russell was ruled out due to leg soreness.

Since Minnesota traded for the former All-Star guard Feb. 6, the Timberwolves have played 39 games. Towns and Russell have shared the court in just five of those contests, with four occurring this season. Minnesota is 2-3 in those games.

WOLF TRACKS

— The return of Towns didn’t erase Naz Reid’s productivity. Reid poured in 23 points in 20 minutes Wednesday night for the Timberwolves. In the month of February, Reid has played six games (four starts) and is averaging 15.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 52.6% from the field.

— Jaylen Nowell notched a career-high 18 points in 21 minutes Monday against Dallas. Nowell has suited up for the Wolves’ last nine games and is shooting 39.5% from 3-point range (15 of 38).

— The NBA G League returned Wednesday, tipping off its 2021 season from a bubble at Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Fla. G League teams will play 15 games from Feb. 10-March 6. The top eight teams will advance to a single-elimination tournament, which will begin March 8 and conclude March 11.

— The Iowa Wolves made their G League season debut Wednesday, losing to the Long Island Nets 131-128. Tyler Cook nearly posted a triple-double for Iowa, logging 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes. Cook played three seasons for the Iowa Hawkeyes in college from 2016-19 and averaged 14.1 points per game while shooting 54.2% from the field.