Anthony Edwards Wants Timberwolves To Upgrade Roster

“Going forward after this series, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ future is in question somewhat because of what Ant feels about the roster, and I wonder if KAT was still there, if he did,” Windhorst said.

Towns, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, was the centerpiece in Minnesota for nine years before being traded to New York shortly before the start of the 2024/25 season. He has been an All-Star in both his years with the Knicks, leading the team to the Eastern Conference finals last season and now the NBA Finals.

Minnesota also made out well in the deal as Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo have both turned in two productive seasons. They helped the Wolves reach the conference finals in 2025, but the team was ousted in the second round by San Antonio this year as DiVincenzo was unavailable due to a ruptured Achilles.

Windhorst doesn’t provide any specifics in the brief clip about the kind of improvements that Edwards wants to see. Minnesota’s front office made one of the best deals at the trade deadline by acquiring guard Ayo Dosunmu from Chicago, and re-signing him in free agency figures to be one of the priorities for the summer.

Any hint of unhappiness involving Edwards is cause for concern among the Timberwolves, who are building their future around the four-time All-Star. Edwards has three more seasons left on his contract at $48.9MM, $52.3MM and $55.7MM, so he doesn’t have much leverage to force his way out of town if he doesn’t get the roster upgrades he wants.

Edwards will be extension eligible this summer, but it’s unlikely to happen because he fell short of the 65-game threshold this season to qualify for All-NBA honors and major postseason awards. He’s only eligible for a two-year extension worth about $122MM, but he could put himself back in position for a four-year, $300MM supermax offer by making an All-NBA team next year.

Along with Edwards, Minnesota already has heavy salary commitments for next season with $36.5MM owed to Rudy Gobert, $33.3MM to Randle, $26.2MM to Jaden McDaniels and $23.3MM to Naz Reid. The type of addition that Edwards envisions would almost certainly require the team to move back into second apron territory.

In a recent interview with KFAN (YouTube link), head coach Chris Finch said he expects the Wolves to explore opportunities in the trade market and expressed confidence in president of basketball operations Tim Connelly to keep the team competitive, relays Jordan Samar of Yahoo Sports.

“I do expect us to be (active),” Finch said. “I don’t know what the end result will be, if there will be a lot of change. I mean, we love our core, and we know we need to keep adding to it a little bit. I have the utmost faith in Tim and his crew and (owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez) to be able to do it.”