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Brian Windhorst Drops Eye-Opening Take on Anthony Edwards and Timberwolves' Future

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt Couden | Last updated Jun 27, 2025 5:22 PM ET

The Minnesota Timberwolves enter the offseason fresh off back-to-back losses in the Western Conference Finals. Due to their repeated lack of success in reaching the NBA Finals, some fans and analysts believed they needed a major roster overhaul, such as trading for Kevin Durant.

However, KD didn't have an interest in playing for Minnesota, and instead got traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets. Meanwhile, the only trades the Timberwolves made involved their second-round picks in the NBA Draft.

And with that recent draft, they picked up several international centers that will take time to develop in Joan Beringer and Rocco Zikarsky. Those aren't earth-shattering picks that will shake up the league or immediately boost Minnesota, although there's always the potential that they become noticeably good later in their careers.

A positive for the Timberwolves is that they have yet to lose any key players from a talented roster still on the cusp of competing for the NBA Championship. As of this writing, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Nikeil Alexander-Walker are all on the team, despite being mentioned in various trade speculation or free agency rumors.

There's also NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards, who is among the league's best players. According to ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst, Ant-Man is expected to continue improving.

During First Take, Windhorst shared his thoughts on the Timberwolves' chances of reaching the NBA Finals with Edwards as their star player. He indicated Minnesota is "set up to continue to be very competitive."

.@WindhorstESPN believes Ant-Man can lead the Wolves to an NBA championship pic.twitter.com/wR4SORpfYN
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 27, 2025

"I still believe Ant is getting better. I think his game and his leadership is getting better," he said.

Windhorst also speculated that Randle would opt in to remain with the Wolves instead of testing free agency and that the team would "prioritize" re-signing Reid. However, he didn't feel as confident that Alexander-Walker would be playing for Minnesota next season.

"While I look at the Thunder and say that's gonna be a very difficult team to overcome, I have seen Ant repeatedly be able to be a leader in postseason settings," he said on First Take.

Along with that, Windhorst said the Timberwolves are "built out as a team and have an elite executive that is leading them."

He said that he still believes they have a challenging task ahead to get through the Western Conference, but they are capable of reaching the NBA Finals behind Edwards.

Other conference contenders have potentially improved during this offseason, including the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks. While Houston added superstar KD to their talented roster, the Mavs drafted Duke's Cooper Flagg. The No. 1 pick is expected to make an instant impact alongside All-Star players Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis.

However, not all moves work out for a roster, and even if they do, they don't always translate to immediate success for a team until everything is clicking.

For the Timberwolves, it seems they have everything in place to reach the next level behind Edwards. However, the addition of a star point guard should probably be a significant consideration with Mike Conley nearing the end of his career.