StaTuesday: Towns' rookie year a historic one
Karl-Anthony Towns was his own harshest critic throughout this past season, often minimizing his personal honors while stressing team accomplishments.
The reality, however, is that the first-overall draft pick put together one of the greatest seasons in NBA rookie history.
The 20-year-old Towns won every single rookie of the month honor and was one of just six NBA players to start all 82 games this season. He averaged 18.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, ranking among the top 10 in the league in field-goal percentage and player-efficient rating (PER), which measures per-minute production.
Towns significantly outpaced his fellow top-10 draft picks from 2015 in the advanced metrics, such as true shooting percentage, offensive and defensive rating and value over replacement player. He also led his fellow top-10 picks in minutes and scoring.
| Rookie (Pick #) | Team | PER | TS% | VORP | ORtg | DRtg | Games (Stars) | MPG | PPG |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (1) | Timberwolves | 22.5 | 59 | 3.1 | 112 | 106 | 82 (82) | 32 | 18.3 |
| D'Angelo Russell (2) | Lakers | 13.2 | 50.7 | 0.1 | 96 | 112 | 80 (48) | 28.2 | 13.2 |
| Jahlil Okafor (3) | 76ers | 17.1 | 53.6 | -0.8 | 99 | 110 | 53 (48) | 30 | 17.5 |
| Kristaps Porzingis (4) | Knicks | 17.7 | 51.8 | 1.1 | 103 | 103 | 72 (72) | 28.4 | 14.3 |
| Mario Jezonja (5) | Magic | 9.4 | 54.1 | -0.3 | 97 | 109 | 79 (9) | 17.9 | 6.1 |
| Willie Cauley-Stein (6) | Kings | 15.3 | 58.8 | 1 | 119 | 107 | 66 (39) | 21.4 | 7 |
| Emmanuel Mudiay (7) | Nuggets | 9.9 | 43.7 | -1.2 | 88 | 110 | 68 (66) | 30.4 | 12.8 |
| Stanley Johnson (8) | Pistons | 8.7 | 46 | -0.2 | 91 | 106 | 73 (6) | 23.1 | 8.1 |
| Frank Kaminsky (9) | Hornets | 12.4 | 51.3 | 0.3 | 105 | 105 | 81 (3) | 21.1 | 7.5 |
| Justise Winslow (10) | Heat | 8.4 | 48.9 | 0.8 | 97 | 105 | 78 (8) | 28.6 | 6.4 |
Towns' rookie year also compares well to the rookie seasons of this year's crop of NBA All-Star Game starters, a group that included Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James. He had a higher player-efficiency rating and true-shooting percentage than any of them and tied James for the highest VORP. He also posted better offensive ratings than Durant, Bryant, Curry and James.
| Player (Rookie season) | Team | PER | TS% | VORP | ORtg | DRtg | Games (Stars) | MPG | PPG |
| Kobe Bryant (1996-97) | Lakers | 14.4 | 54.4 | 0.1 | 101 | 105 | 71 (6) | 15.5 | 7.6 |
| Kevin Durant (2007-08) | SuperSonics | 15.8 | 51.9 | 0.4 | 100 | 110 | 80 (80) | 34.6 | 20.3 |
| Kawhi Leonard (2011-12) | Spurs | 16.6 | 57.3 | 2.4 | 119 | 101 | 64 (39) | 24 | 7.9 |
| Stephen Curry (2009-10) | Warriors | 16.3 | 56.8 | 2.2 | 107 | 111 | 80 (77) | 36.2 | 17.5 |
| Russell Westbrook (2008-09) | Thunder | 15.2 | 48.9 | 1.3 | 99 | 111 | 82 (65) | 32.5 | 15.3 |
| LeBron James (2003-04) | Cavaliers | 18.3 | 48.8 | 3.1 | 99 | 104 | 79 (79) | 39.5 | 20.9 |
| Paul George (2010-11) | Pacers | 13 | 54.2 | 0.6 | 103 | 104 | 61 (19) | 20.7 | 7.8 |
| Carmelo Anthony (2003-04) | Nuggets | 17.6 | 50.9 | 1.6 | 102 | 105 | 82 (82) | 36.5 | 21 |
| Dwayne Wade (2003-04) | Heat | 17.6 | 53 | 1.8 | 101 | 102 | 61 (56) | 34.9 | 16.2 |
| Kyle Lowry (2006-07) | Memphis | 18.3 | 55.6 | 0.2 | 118 | 108 | 10 (0) | 17.5 | 5.6 |
Towns will almost certainly be joining this group at future All-Gtar games and barring injury will likely put up similar numbers next season. All of these players went on to make dramatic improvements in future years, so now it's up to Towns and the Timberwolves to make that leap in years two and beyond.
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