The Minnesota Timberwolves may have already moved off the player who fit Anthony Edwards best.
That’s the uncomfortable question hanging over the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, because the deal with the New York Knicks didn’t just send away a decade-long Timberwolves fixture. It may have sent out the one guy who gave Minnesota its clearest path to a title in the Edwards era.
Towns just showed he can be part of a championship team. The Wolves, though, chose to move on, and the reason felt tied to money as much as basketball. Minnesota didn’t want to pay Towns his next big deal, with the supermax looming, so the front office opted for a cheaper route that also added depth.
Julius Randle was the headliner in that swap, while Donte DiVincenzo was the depth piece. On paper, that looked like a way to build something sustainable. In reality, it may have taken away Minnesota’s best shot at getting all the way there.
Edwards and Towns made sense together. It wasn’t flawless, and Towns was never a lockdown defender, especially at power forward. But he was still a high-level player, and there’s a real argument the Wolves should have kept him at the five and built the defense around that setup instead of pushing him out.
That matters because Rudy Gobert isn’t giving you much on offense, and recent NBA champions have made it pretty clear you can’t carry too many weak spots on that end if you want to win it all.
Randle didn’t solve the problem, either. He was a turnover machine, and he’s not even in Minnesota anymore. The Wolves sent him out in a salary dump so they could re-sign Ayo Dosunmu in free agency.
Put all of that together, and the decision looks even more questionable in hindsight. Was moving Towns really worth it? Should Minnesota have stuck with him as Edwards’ best championship partner?
Towns is better than Randle. He’s better than Gobert. He’s probably even better than LaMelo Ball, who the Wolves just traded for to be Edwards’ new co-star in town.
There’s a strong case that Towns was the best player Edwards ever played with, and Minnesota let him go because the team didn’t want to commit to him financially down the road.
If that’s how it plays out, the Timberwolves may have passed on one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history. And now they’ll never know whether Towns could have helped Edwards clear the final hurdle if the two had stayed together.
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Timberwolves Just Made Their Biggest Bet On Anthony Edwards Yet
The Timberwolves have taken a clear swing at reshaping the roster around Anthony Edwards, landing LaMelo Ball in a deal that sent Julius Randle, Naz Reid and future draft picks out the door. It is the kind of move that says Minnesota is not just looking for another good player, but for a better kind of partner next to its franchise guard.
Ball brings a different offensive shape to the lineup, one that should make it easier for Edwards to work with and off the ball while keeping pressure on defenses from multiple spots. Minnesota gave up useful pieces to make the trade happen, which is why the fit matters so much now, and why this new pairing will be watched closely as the Wolves try to prove they chose the right co-star for their rising centerpiece. [Read more 🡒]
Wolves Frontcourt Debate Is Now All About Trust Behind Rudy Gobert
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The real interest is in how the Wolves settle the minutes behind Gobert, because that decision will say a lot about how much trust they have in the rest of the group. There is confidence in the depth overall, but the pecking order is still being defined, and the frontcourt has become less about simply filling spots than figuring out which players can be counted on when the game tightens and the big man needs a breather. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Face A Big Late-Game Test Around Anthony Edwards
Late-game basketball has become one of the Timberwolves defining pressure points, and the staff around Anthony Edwards is adjusting to match it. With Micah Nori gone to take the head coaching job in Portland, Chris Finch is revisiting how Minnesota handles the final minutes, when every timeout, inbound and matchup can decide everything. The Wolves have spent enough time in clutch situations to know the margin is thin, and the need for cleaner structure has only grown as Edwards role at the end of games has evolved.
Finch said he will be more hands-on in those spots, with Pablo Prigioni and Nate Bubes also taking on pieces of the end-of-game operation. For Minnesota, the change is less about replacing one voice than making sure the right details still reach the floor when the game tightens. Around Edwards, that means finding the balance between giving the star room to go make a play and having a sharper plan when the possession count starts to matter most. [Read more 🡒]