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Karl-Anthony Towns believes it is “championship or bust” for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Rudy Gobert will be a huge part of the team achieving their goals.
The Timberwolves acquired center Gobert from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster trade after falling to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs this year.
It was only the second time Minnesota had made the postseason since drafting Towns first overall in 2015.
The arrival of three-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert will see Towns spent a lot more time at the power forward position, but he feels the pair will complement each other well and hopes it can push the team into championship contention.
“I expect a lot of winning for sure. I wanna win. I’m not up here blowing smoke, I really wanna try to bring a championship run to Minnesota and Rudy adds a huge component to that,” said Towns, who recently signed a four-year, $224million super max contract extension.
“He’s gonna be a massive part of us being a championship team and my job is to help him as much as he’s gonna help me.
“His strengths are my weaknesses and his weaknesses are my strengths, so we’ll be able to play off of each other.
“It’s go time. There’s no more excuses. We’ve gotta get it done now. It’s championship now or bust.”
Last season saw the Timberwolves end a run of three straight years with a losing record, and it was the momentum Towns felt that had been built that convinced him to extend his deal in Minnesota.
“I wanted to keep this going. Last year, after me talking to a bunch of NBA players and front office people and us, the NBA is aware of who we are now,” said Towns.
“We set out to go out there and make noise and show everyone this isn’t the Timberwolves they’re used to, and we’ve done that. Why not keep that momentum going and bring back a championship or that basketball that the fans and everyone here has been yearning for so much?
“Let’s bring it back, and not for just one year. Let’s do it for consecutive years and make a run.”
