NBA GMs: Karl-Anthony Towns player they want most

NBA general managers were surveyed which played they most want to build around. Rookie sensation Karl-Anthony Towns was the leading vote-getter by a mile.

There are the best players in the NBA now and then there are the best players to build around. The thing about the NBA is the best players always find a way to rise to the top. They always find a way to compete for a championship.

So general managers around the league pick who they want to build around very carefully. And it is surprising when someone new cracks the list.

It is easy to pick LeBron James or Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant to build a franchise around. Their two teams will likely be competing for a title this year.

In five years though? The NBA GMs want to build around someone else. Someone surprising.

In the annual GM survey on NBA.com, the league’s decision-makers were asked who they would most like to start a franchise building around. Nearly half of them selected Minnesota Timberwolves second-year player Karl-Anthony Towns.

Last year’s Rookie of the Year averaged 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in his first season. He got everyone excited with his talent and potential. And seemingly adding Tom Thibodeau to the coaching staff will only make things better for Towns.

Expectations are very high for the second year player from Kentucky, to say the least.

The GMs saying they want to build their team around him only increases that expectation.

It means they picked Towns over Kevin Durant (20.7 percent of the vote) and LeBron James (17.2 percent). Certainly age plays a factor. Towns, who received 48.3 percent of the vote, is just 20 years old. His rookie year put him in a historical class and he was the unanimous Rookie of the Year. Again, big things are expected for his career.

But a word of caution.

Last year, the GMs picked Anthony Davis as the player they would most like to build around if they were starting a franchise. After an injury-plagued year last season, Davis received votes. But that is a far cry from receiving 86.2 percent of the vote.

Things change fast in the NBA. The flavor of the month goes bad quickly. Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook also received votes.

Clearly right now though, Towns is the guy GMs most want to get their hands on and watch develop. It seems like Towns will be a slam dunk player for the rest of his career. Only time will tell how much he pans out.