Karl-Anthony Towns has started to consistently put the Minnesota Timberwolves on his back after Jimmy Butler was dealt out of The Twin Cities, going from a disappointing 4-9 record to surpassing the .500 mark for the first time this season with a rousing 121-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Teammates like Taj Gibson and Derrick Rose have developed the unequivocal belief that he is their catalyst moving forward.

“He’s the guy, and I believe he’s the guy,” said the veteran Gibson, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, “especially with the loss of Jimmy. Especially with having that role of being vocal and big shots late. “I think KAT’s been doing a great job of not bailing out. He’s been putting a lot of pressure on bigs to have to double team. If you’re not going to double team him, he’s going to go one-on-one. He’s not shying away from the contact. He’s being real vocal and real strong within the paint.”

Towns recently put up a bombastic outing against the Hornets — 35 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks, with three assists and two steals sprinkled in a tantalizing performance that only shows what he can do when he’s aggressive demanding the ball.

“We’re going to go to him,” said Rose. “We know how good he is. We know how talented he is. That’s why he gets paid what he gets paid. So god dammit we’re going to go to him. We’re going to feed him and play through him.”

Towns’ future will go as far as his aggression takes him, and it’ll be up to veterans like Rose and Gibson to remind him just how pivotal he is to the Timberwolves’ success.