The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade may have shaken up the NBA landscape, but Anthony Edwards is quickly becoming a player rival teams are monitoring closely.
The discussion came shortly after Minnesota traded Julius Randle and the No. 28 pick to Brooklyn in exchange for the No. 33 selection in what was widely viewed as a salary-clearing move.
“My question is: What’s Ant Edwards thinking?” Windhorst said on “Hoop Collective Podcast.“. “If you were to say who’s next after Giannis? We would have said Ant. And that [the Randle trade] happened at the exact same time as the Giannis trade. It’s fascinating.
“The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market.”
Windhorst explained that Edwards’ frustrations may date back to Minnesota’s decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in exchange for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
“Ant has really been frustrated since Towns got traded, just about how he gets double-teamed,” Windhorst said. “They have to do something this offseason about addressing the Ant double-team situation, especially knowing you may not have DiVincenzo.”
Towns went on to play a major role in helping the Knicks capture their first NBA championship in 53 years, while Minnesota struggled to find the right fit around its franchise star.
Windhorst also suggested that the relationship between Edwards and Randle was not always smooth.
“I don’t think Ant was the biggest Julius Randle fan,” Windhorst said. “And I don’t think [the issue is] Randle being traded. It’s Randle being traded as part of a salary dump. I don’t think that Ant was like, ‘No, no, don’t trade Julius, never.’ Because there was some significant disconnect between those players by the end of the season.”
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