Warriors monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns trade possibilities, per report

Surprise, surprise. The Warriors are interested in a disgruntled superstar.

In one respect, the Warriors are becoming more like their rival Rockets: If you have a star player, they’d sure like to trade for him, and they aren’t too shy about letting people know.

A report from The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss Monday morning noted that Golden State is keeping an eye on Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Despite signing a max extension before last season, Towns is apparently disgruntled in Minnesota, and who wouldn’t be? At just 24 years old, he’s widely seen as a top-10 talent in the league, and a unique blend of talent with his outside shooting in a 7-foot frame.

Towns and Warriors guard D’Angelo Russell are buddies, and the Wolves were reportedly quite close to signing Russell this offseason before he opted for the Warriors (and the full max contract) in a sign-and-trade deal.

The Warriors also have another advantage in a potential trade for Towns, though Dubs fans won’t like it: In Russell, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, they have plenty of contracts large enough to match Towns’.

Strauss posited that the Warriors may be interested in exchanging Russell for his pal, in addition to some young talent like Eric Paschall and Alen Smailagić. That may hurt but it’d surely be more palatable than moving a core piece of the Warriors’ championship team.

Observers around the NBA have wondered whether Green will see the other side of his prime sooner than other players because of the physical toll he takes, and there’s no guarantee Thompson will return to his athletic peak post-ACL surgery.

Whether a Towns trade of any formulation is actually likely or not, the Warriors’ intention is clear between this report and their rumored interest in Giannis Antetokounmpo: They want to morph this roster into one that will compete through the 2020s.