NBA GMs vote Wolves star Towns best player to build around

If given the chance to start over, 29 percent of the league's general managers would choose to rebuild around Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns.

That's according to the NBA's latest GM survey, a yearly poll of the league's decision-makers.



Towns beat out Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (21 percent) and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (19 percent), and was also voted the league's best center (28 percent) and the most likely player to have a breakout season (21 percent).

A few GMs also voted Towns the league's best power forward (seven percent).

Teammate Andrew Wiggins took fifth in the breakout player category with seven percent.

The GMs are also bullish on Minnesota's new-look roster, picking the Wolves to finish fifth in the western conference behind Golden State, Houston, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

Minnesota (14 percent) trails only Boston (25 percent) and Oklahoma City (43 percent) in the "Which team made the best overall moves this offseason?" category, while their acquisition of Jimmy Butler (17 percent) was the second-most popular answer to "Which one player acquisition will make the biggest impact?"

The Butler deal also took third (10 percent) for the most underrated acquisition of the offseason, and received a handful of votes for the most surprising move.

The Wolves were the league's most-improved team by a wide margin, taking 69 percent of the vote to Philadelphia's 17 percent.

Tom Thibodeau (34 percent) has the league's second-best defensive systems, while Jamal Crawford (10 percent) ranked third in the category of players who will make the biggest impact off the bench this season.