The Timberwolves are an up and coming team to me. Towns, Edwards, and Russell is a good young core and they can add a top pick to that. This season is not representative as both Towns and Russell have been out a lot.
I think they would be dumb to trade Towns but if they did want to go complete reboot, he could returns even more good young players (like Brown for example).
I don't rate them.
DOA = Dead On Arrival is the phrase that is popping into my head right now.
(1) I see Towns forcing a trade and getting out of town in 12-18 months time.
(2) I don't rate D-Russell highly. I consider him a 5th/6th best player on a top team. A Lou Williams / Jamal Crawford type and frankly those guys are better than him. His defense sucks. His offense is alright but it is dependent on low percentage shot attempts which leaves him vulnerable to top defenses in a playoff setting (playoff choker alert).
(3) Not sold on Anthony Edwards. Top athlete with lower level bball skills. Years away from being anything serious in this league and that is if he ever gets there which is far from a sure thing. He is so raw and so far away from being a top player that he will have no impact on Towns staying.
Basically, the whole thing is like a House of Cards that will fall apart the minute Towns gets bored of losing all the time which will happen in the near future if he has any ambition whatsoever.
I don't look at this as a team on the rise. I look at this as a team that is on a path to nowhere and will have to start over in the near future.
Could be but you are really listing 3 things all pretty much worst case scenarios that all have to happen. Towns forcing a trade is possible but with new management and what could be construed as a promising team built around good young players, why do that? Towns is a player that compares with Embiid, Jokic, Davis, any big you want to name.
Russell has had issues but has also been a consistent 20 ppg scorer for the last 3 seasons. He is 25. Not all that much different than Bradley Beal through 6 seasons. I don't see Lou Williams, that is for sure.
And of course, Edwards may plateau but he is by far the best rookie of a pretty good draft class. Putting up 18 pts as a 19 year old rookie without summer league or a real preseason. And if he is doing that while being raw and without and basketball IQ, to me, that just makes him seem even more promising. Way ahead of where Brown was for example at that age/experience.
If I was a MIL fan or if I was one of the new owners, I would feel pretty good about this team. Yeah, all the wheels could fall off, it happens, but I don't think that total worst case scenario is going to happen or at least no one should expect it to happen.