Karl-Anthony Towns expected to be sidelined for several more weeks

While the fit with Towns and Gobert was the most scrutinized aspect of Minnesota’s lineup, it was Towns who actually showed some of the best feel for playing with Gobert on offense. He led the Wolves in assists to Gobert and showed a willingness to incorporate him into the offense, sometimes turning the ball over while trying to get Gobert involved. That enthusiasm on Towns’ part is a big reason Connelly believes the pairing can work over the long term. “We’re not going to bury our head in the sand and pretend it’s been flawless,” Connelly said. “We never expected that. When we made the trade, it wasn’t done without a lot of conversation, a lot of watching of tape.” -via The Athletic / December 7, 2022

The issue is that with Gobert at center, Towns is playing predominantly power forward, and in today’s small-ball era, that means the latter is often tasked with guarding a smaller, quicker perimeter forward, or “stretch 4.” Considering how much the team gave up to get Gobert — four players, four first-round picks — and Towns’ franchise cornerstone status, head coach Chris Finch is almost compelled to play them together. “It’s hard to play two bigs in this era,” an Eastern Conference assistant coach said. “I think they will actually improve with Towns out.” -via FoxSports.com / December 6, 2022

Dane Moore: D’Angelo Russell on what they’ve been working on in practice: “Just a complete different identity. With and without KAT, we’re a different team. We gotta practice and try to have a business approach… Just trying to see what our identity is going to be with and without him.” -via Twitter @DaneMooreNBA / December 5, 2022