Is a seven-foot mobile big man with the ability to defend multiple positions and effectively play on the perimeter at a high level a one of a kind type of player or a growing trend in the future of the NBA?

Well, I’m here to tell you one thing that is a fact – there is only one Karl-Anthony Towns, or should I say Mr. Renaissance Man.

Towns’ ability on the court is possibly franchise building, GM career solidifying, can’t-miss material. But who Towns is off the court might just be the reason that he is the next face of the NBA.

Fifteen years old, St. Joseph HS in New Jersey. Ninety-five percent of young players want to become the next MJ, LeBron, or Kobe. Not Towns. His answer when asked who does he aspire to be like on the court? Len Bias. Most kids in this generation don’t understand how talented Bias was (an athletic mobile 6-foot-9 beast with range), let alone know who he was. Towns, he’d been watching film on him for years studying his game. That right there tells you all you need to know about Towns – intuitive, cerebral, and one of a kind.

Larry Berger, high-level lead NBA producer who has known Towns and the family before he was on the national stage, compares him to a mix of three players – Grant Hill (skill level and versatility), Derek Fisher (professionalism and leadership), and Jerome Williams (intuitive personality and charm).

An interesting mix perhaps, but that’s what it takes sometimes to make a franchise building block.

Towns isn’t overly concerned with the limelight or building a brand, he is who he is and is very comfortable in his own skin. (Not an easy task being a seven-footer at the age of 15). When Towns was a freshman in high school, Berger took him to REED Academy, an autistic center in Oakland, New Jersey.

“Towns fit in like a five-year NBA vet straight from an NBA Cares session,” Berger said.

Towns regularly sat with the least popular kid at lunch to show everyone there is much more to people than perceived status. And when a teacher didn’t show up for class, Towns filled in as the substitute teacher for the day… as a freshmen. In a varsity game as a freshman, Towns scored 25 points through three quarters and didn’t shoot again the entire fourth quarter in order to stay on 25 points to commemorate a former St. Joseph student who had recently died in the Marines at age 25.

I know it might sound like I’m reading the script from a Dos Equis ‘Most Interesting Man’ commercial, but this is who Towns is – much more than just a versatile big with immense upside on the court.

Just ask Kevin Durant. At age 16, Berger took Towns to interview KD. After the interview, Durant and others were asking Berger what college Towns went to as he was extremely well-spoken and intuitive in his interview. The answer from Berger – ‘He’s a sophomore in high school.'

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGjSTg6rC1c%5D

To say that Towns is a Renaissance Man might be somewhat of an understatement. And as next level of a person Towns is off the court, the real debate begins on the court. Is Towns the pick over Jahlil Okafor? Is Towns a franchise building block or just another versatile big in the line of many to follow? What separates Towns from everyone in the 2015 draft Class and from those in the league?

The obvious answer is versatility and ability to step out and effectively operate on the perimeter. From the surface we all can see that.

The real value of Towns that most people overlook is on the defensive side of the ball and his ability to not only shut down centers, but also move his feet and contain power forwards. That is a very rare skill to possess.

Think about it: If Towns matched up today with the Clippers, he could effectively defend both DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. How many players in the league can do that? You can name them on one hand, if that. With the top pick in the draft, Minnesota needs to see the value in that.

At Kentucky, Towns was in defensive post-up situations 38.7 percent of his defensive possessions and held his opponent to a 0.489 points per possession rate. I know it’s college and bigs in the NBA are more dynamic than Vanderbilt’s bigs, but that is still an extremely high level number that will translate well in the NBA. In pick-and-roll situations, when Towns was switched on to guards he held the opponent to a 0.6 points per possession and a turnover rate of 30 percent. That’s a huge number, meaning that nearly one out of every three times Towns switched to the ballhandler off the pick-and-roll they gave it up to Kentucky.

Just how dominant can Towns be? Ask Calipari or any other person watching the Final Four semifinal game against Wisconsin. There is no doubt Kentucky is playing for the national championship two days later if the ball is entered to Towns at any point in the last five minutes instead of being dribbled aimlessly at the top of the key for empty possessions by twin guards.

Calipari also knows that he wasn’t utilizing Towns strengths which will make him, in my opinion, a dominant player in the NBA. At Kentucky, 42.7 percent of Towns' offensive touches were in the post with his back to the basket. This was done out of necessity by Calipari due to the fact that Towns was the only scoring big that the Wildcats had.

Towns isn’t a back-to-the-basket player, he’s what I like to call a playmaking four. Not necessarily a stretch four, as I think that term is too limiting. That is a Ryan Anderson type player, but Towns is much more than a pick-and-pop shooting threat. In three years, when you think Towns, you will think LaMarcus Aldridge.

He has that type of ability and an Aldridge-type ceiling to his potential (but with better three-point shooting). Towns’ true ability has not yet been demonstrated in the right system; he’s the type of player that the offense can literally run through. Similar to Pau Gasol as a decision making big from a high-post situation. He has that level of basketball IQ to be a facilitator.

At Kentucky, when Towns was in control of the ball in the halfcourt set, the Wildcats converted at a 1.19 points per possession rate. In these situations, Towns was actually more effective in percentage to assist rate. In 405 possessions in which Towns had what was deemed control of the possession, Kentucky converted on a percent-assist rate from Towns at 59.7%.

In simplified terms, Towns was able to find the open player at an extremely high level for Kentucky to shoot nearly 60 percent on passes coming from Towns. And Towns wasn’t just finding cutters for easy buckets, he was finding three-point shooters in open time and space situations (4-plus feet of space) and converting at a 2.45 points per assist rate. That is a very high level of points per assist and clearly shows that Towns has great vision and feel for where his teammates need the ball to succeed.

This skillset as a playmaking four will translate very well in the NBA with the ability to find open shooters out of the block or the face-up mid post. Unless you have been living under a rock, you are able to see the importance of three-point shooting and one of the highest percentage three-point situations is a post touch and kick out. Towns will find shooters with time and space, he has the vision and situational IQ to do so. And shooters who have time and space on average shoot 21.4 percent better. Yeah, I think there is something of importance to taking uncontested shots.

Overall, Towns was one of the most efficient players in college basketball last season with a 31.4 PER, ranking only slightly behind Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin. And Towns did this all in only 21.4 minutes per game.

So if Towns has all of this potential to be a high level playmaking four, LaMarcus Aldridge-esque type player, why is he not the sure-fire No. 1 pick? Towns is the product of the word prototype. Basically meaning the media has jumped on board to label Towns as ‘another versatile big in the line of many to come.’ The playmaking four is the rising trend and the consensus is beginning to trend toward the group-think thought that there will be many more Towns to come.

Be careful with this thought. There aren’t/will be many players out there who are able to guard the power forward and center effectively, defend a guard on a pick -and-roll situation, create space on the floor by stretching the defense with extended shooting range, and make plays at a playmaking four position.

Be very careful when thinking there are more like Towns to come. Sure, the trend might be leaning toward versatility, but there is a difference between versatility at a watered down rate (being able to do everything well) and versatility at a high level rate (being able to do everything very well).

Towns is the latter.

So is Towns a better choice than Okafor?

Let’s ask Towns. Whenever Towns has been asked about Okafor or set up for a chance to tee off on downplaying Okafor’s talent, it’s been just the opposite. He has only had high praise of his friend Okafor and considers Okafor as a can’t miss prospect. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s just wanting to say the right things, or maybe it’s his ploy to get to L.A. Either way, Towns’ appeal and intrigue stretches much further than his 7-foot-3 wingspan and his on-court versatility.

Towns is a Renaissance Man in every sense of the word. Not only on the court, but off the court as well. And it should come as no surprise that Towns wants to use the money he makes throughout his career not on lavish cars and extravagant parties, but instead building a hospital in his native Dominican Republic. Tell me how many players in the NBA genuinely put helping others as their main goal? I’ll answer that for you, not many. Karl Anthony-Towns, one of a kind.

Special thanks to Larry Berger, lead NBA producer at USA Today/HoopsHype and Producer, director and writer of Karl-Anthony Towns' documentary Center of Attention.

David Nurse is a professional shooting coach. You can learn more about him at PerfectShotsBasketball.com, the best shooting and skills basketball website in the world. You can also follow him on Twitter @davidnurse05.

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