Who’s Your Franchise Big Man: Karl-Anthony Towns or Joel Embiid?

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Dec 13, 2017

The Timberwolves lost Tuesday night’s nationally televised matchup versus the 76ers.

The entertaining OT contest featured a game within the game. Each team has a young, potential superstar, 7′ center. Karl-Anthony Towns and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid are arguably the two most exciting up and coming big men in the NBA.

Who would you take?

Towns’ has a much more impressive overall body of work. As for the start of this season, that goes to “The Process”. Tuesday’s contest between the two alphas was close. Our guy had the edge up until late in the 4th and OT. Embiid ended up winning that battle. Will he also ended up winning the war?

Towns’ Career Stats:

Embiid’s Career Stats:

Who will be better over the next decade?

By glancing at the numbers, you’d think KAT was drafted prior to Embiid. That is not the Case Keenum. The Kentucky product is a year younger and was drafted a year after the former Jayhawk. The beloved 76er sat out his first two NBA seasons due to foot issues. No. Not the Steph Curry/Rex Ryan sort of foot issues.

Injuries and long-term durability are a HUGE concern regarding Embiid. Philadelphia shut him down early last year and he’s basically always on a minutes restriction. As you read this, there are questions surrounding the health of his back. On the other hand, Towns hasn’t missed a game in his career. Our coach DEFINITELY isn’t limiting his minutes. Tom Thibodeau is riding that horse as much as he possibly can.

If you polled NBA fans today, Embiid would be the popular choice. I have nothing against that. His 24.49 Player Efficiency Rating this year is over 2.3 points higher than Towns’. He is more of a physical presence inside than KAT. The college teammate of Andrew Wiggins is now a bonafide NBA stud. Embiid makes opposing 7 footers look small:

If you held a gun to my head today, I’m going KAT. Embiid’s ceiling might be higher but it’s not by much. It comes down to the ole’ risk/reward scenario. When our feline-nicknamed big man goes to the rack, I anticipate him posterizing one of his unfortunate opponents. If my heart was with Embiid, I’d be saying my prayers on his drives:

“Please don’t get hurt, please don’t get hurt.”

Nobody wants to live their life in that kind of fear.

Here is the Boss’ stance:

Either 8 games is sarcasm or I should find a job that has a boss who can at-least count…

We can’t do an article on “The Process” without mentioning his sense of humor. That man is cracking jokes like it’s his second job. Those damn Millennials (myself included) love this stuff:

Choosing between Towns and Embiid is like deciding if you want steak or shrimp. You can’t really go wrong. If it’s an option, surf and turf is the best choice. In this situation, that’s not going to happen.

Who in their right mind would ever put two similar superstar bigs on the same team?

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN

Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com

Photo: NBA.com

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