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NBA All-Star Issues Warning After Luka Trade: ‘They Created a Monster’

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Parker Johnson | Last updated Feb 6, 2025 4:51 PM ET

The aftershock from Saturday's Luka Doncic trade is still being felt across the NBA, and Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is not sugarcoating how scary it could be for the rest of the league.

Edwards knows the kind of damage Doncic is capable of better than most. Minnesota lost 4-1 to the Dallas Mavericks in last year's Western Conference Finals.

The Slovenian led all scorers in the series at 32.4 points per game, including a 36-point performance to close out Game 5 — with Edwards often drawing the assignment as his primary defender.

Doncic's performance led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals, but that did not save him from being dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers less than a year later. Edwards said he would feel "tried" if a team treated him that way, and he expects the Lakers' new star to turn into an animal as a response.

“If the respect that I got for him is where I think it is, yeah, they created a monster," Edwards said in a candid video posted to his official Instagram.

"I’m excited to play the Lakers now," he added, "because they created a monster, boy.”

Edwards' competitive spirit is admirable, but other Western Conference rivals might not look forward to a potential Doncic revenge tour as much.

Grateful for this amazing opportunity. Basketball means everything to me, and no matter where I play the game, I’ll do so with the same joy, passion and goal - to win championships. https://t.co/psfgI5o9Pn
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) February 2, 2025

Los Angeles is fifth in the West at 29-19, with a comfortable 2.5 game cushion on the seventh-placed Timberwolves and 4.5 on the eighth-placed Mavericks. Doncic has only played in 22 contests, but he has the fifth-highest scoring average in the NBA this season at 28.1 points per game.

General manager Rob Pelinka followed the Doncic deal by picking up the phone and bringing in 7-foot-2 center Mark Williams to support LeBron James and fill the gap left by trading Anthony Davis to Dallas.

Edwards is looking forward to playing the new-look Lakers, but nothing got him more excited in the video than when he found out how soon Doncic will take on his old team. The Lakers play the Mavericks in Los Angeles on Feb. 25.