Apr 3, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) shoots in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Target Center. The Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 88-78. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not extremely common for second-year players to make NBA All-Star teams, but Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns just might have a decent shot.

Credit ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (again) for sparking the conversation, but it’s a good one.

Who are the most likely first-time All-Stars come February of 2017? And within that, how many second-year guys could be selected after just one season in the league?

Unsurprisingly, Towns was one of just two second-year players on the list of 10, plus five honorable mentions. Somewhat surprisingly, he was also one of two Timberwolves on the list. But more on that in a moment.

Pelton ranked reigning Rookie of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns as the most-likely player to be a first-time NBA All-Star this year, ladies and gentlemen. Good times to be a Wolves fan, am I right?

Here’s what he had to say in this ESPN Insider piece:

Many of the NBA’s biggest one-and-done stars like Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Rose made their All-Star debuts in their second seasons, and Towns is poised to join them. Towns was already a fringe All-Star candidate as a rookie, and improvement by the Timberwolves should make him a more viable contender. It’s possible Towns could become the league’s best center this year, and that would certainly give him a good shot at the All-Star Game.

The Western Conference should be stacked again in 2016-17, and while it isn’t quite the Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett years of the early and mid ’00’s, it isn’t an easy group to crack.

But Towns was playing at a near-All-Star level in late January/early February last year and if you thought he could have been on the team, nobody would have called you crazy. So this year, the sky is the limit.

With a better, more pick-and-roll focused offense and the likelihood that KAT will be letting more threes fly than mid-range jumpers, look out.

Without posting the rest of the above-linked list that is behind ESPN’s paywall, I will say that Andrew Wiggins snuck onto the list at #9 — just ahead of Rookie of the Year runner-up Kristaps Porzingis.

Pelton acknowledges that both Wiggins and Porzingis are both extreme long-shots, but hey, they made the list.

If you haven’t prepared yourselves for the Towns (and even Timberwolves) love that is going to come from a national level, well, get ready.