The Karl-Anthony Towns file
Position: Center-power forward
Height/weight: 6-11, 250 pounds
College: Kentucky
Age: 19 (born Nov. 15, 1995 in Piscataway, N.J.)
The skinny: Very skilled big man who is deemed the kind of two-way player around whom Flip Saunders says he wants to build his team. Handles the ball extremely well for such a big man and shoots with much more range — NBA three-point line and beyond — than he was allowed at Kentucky, where coach John Calipari directed him to play near the basket to prove to NBA scouts he could do so. … Led his St. Joseph's High School team to three consecutive New Jersey state titles starting his freshman year, then reclassified himself as a senior and left a year early for college. … His mother is from the Dominican Republic and at age 16 he played for that country's national team, which Calipari coached that summer in Olympic qualifying play. … He was named the 2014 prep Gatorade national player of year. The previous winners before him: Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Bradley Beal, Brandon Knight (twice), Jrue Holiday, Kevin Love, Greg Oden (twice), Dwight Howard and LeBron James (twice).
