Hours after the NBA was jolted by the blockbuster trade sending Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, another name began drawing attention across the league: Anthony Edwards. Edwards has not asked for a trade, and Minnesota is not trying to move him, but ESPN insiders Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon said teams are already monitoring his situation in case he eventually becomes the next superstar available.
MacMahon said on The Hoop Collective that “the vultures in the NBA are already circling Ant,” expecting he could one day become trade-available. Windhorst added that Edwards has been frustrated for a long time, especially since Minnesota traded Karl-Anthony Towns in 2024. He said Edwards has been “very frustrated since the Towns trade,” particularly with the way teams double-team him.
That frustration deepened after Minnesota also sent Julius Randle to Brooklyn in a three-team trade, a move widely seen in the league as being driven mainly by financial flexibility. Randle had been the team’s second-best scorer last season, and his departure has renewed doubts about whether the Timberwolves are truly building a contender around Edwards.
Minnesota has been one of the West’s steadier teams in recent years, reaching the conference finals twice in a row, but last season it was eliminated in the second round by San Antonio. Edwards, now 24, is coming off the best season of his career with 28.8 points, five rebounds and nearly 40 percent shooting from three. He made his fourth straight All-Star team and won the All-Star Game MVP, yet the Timberwolves still finished only sixth in the West at 33-49. For now, he is under contract and remains the face of the franchise, but the pressure on Minnesota is rising after the Towns and Randle deals and another season without a real title push.
