Towns promised Flip Saunders he'd help end T-Wolves' playoff drought
Fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves should hope Karl-Anthony Towns is a man of his word.
The talented young center revealed he made a promise to his former coach Flip Saunders, who died from cancer two years ago.
"I made a promise to Flip Saunders that we would win and end the playoff drought," Towns told The AP's Jon Krawczynski on Friday.
"And I intend to keep that promise."
The Timberwolves haven't qualified for the playoffs in 13 years - the longest drought in the NBA - nor had a winning record since 2004-05, when the late Saunders was still manning the sidelines.
There's plenty of reason for optimism now given the internal development of the club's up-and-coming stars and its offseason splashes - most notably, Minny traded for All-NBA swingman Jimmy Butler on draft day. The organiztion also brought in several veterans to provide leadership on the young squad, including Jamal Crawford, Taj Gibson, and Jeff Teague.
Meanwhile, Towns is expected to continue his rise as one of the league's most dominant bigs. The 21-year-old put up 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.7 dimes, and 1.3 blocks per game in his sophomore campaign, and should be even better this season.
That will only bring KAT closer to making good on his promise.