NBA Notes: Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards, Mavericks, offseason, Grizzlies

Timberwolves

Anthony Edwards isn’t talking championship just yet. First, he wants to see what the new-look Timberwolves actually look like together.

Minnesota made one of the summer’s biggest changes by acquiring LaMelo Ball in the four-team trade that sent Naz Reid to Charlotte and Julius Randle to Brooklyn. That gives the Wolves a dynamic new backcourt, but also changes the construction of a team that had reached the Western Conference finals in two of the previous three seasons.

“It would mean a lot (to win a championship),” Edwards said, via ESPN. “But right now, I don’t think we’re thinking about winning the championship. It’s step by step.”

Edwards said the immediate priority is building chemistry with Ball and Minnesota’s other newcomers.

“We got LaMelo, a new player, and a bunch of new pieces,” he said. “So, we are just trying to build it together and I think we’re trying to gel it all together.”

Ball should relieve Edwards of some of the playmaking burden, though Edwards doesn’t expect that to change who he is.

“That’s the best part about me,” he said. “I will still be the same person.”

Mavericks

New Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz likes where Dallas is headed after an offseason overhaul built around Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving.

“We definitely feel like we’ve upgraded in a variety of ways with the size and the length and the skill level,” Schmitz said, via Dallas Hoops Journal.

Dallas added Santi Aldama and Zaccharie Risacher, along with rookie Morez Johnson Jr. and 6-foot-6 guard Sergio De Larrea.

“We’ve gotten bigger. We’ve gotten longer. We’ve gotten taller. We’ve gotten rangier,” Schmitz said, adding that the Mavericks believe they’ve also become more athletic and skilled.

Dallas will look different on the sideline, too. Dusty May is making the jump from college basketball to become the Mavericks’ head coach, the first coach to go directly from the NCAA ranks to an NBA head-coaching job since John Beilein joined the Cavaliers in 2019.

Schmitz believes May’s experience in several different roles has prepared him for the transition.

Grizzlies

ESPN’s Zach Kram gave the Grizzlies a “B” for an offseason that essentially completed the dismantling of their former core.

Memphis finally moved Ja Morant after previously parting with Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, receiving Jerami Grant and Kris Murray in the Morant deal without adding any draft picks.

That’s hardly a massive return for a player who once looked like a franchise cornerstone. But Morant’s value had fallen considerably, and ESPN’s view is that Memphis can finally move forward rather than continue trying to salvage something that clearly wasn’t working.

The next version of the Grizzlies will be built around a considerably younger group, led by Cameron Boozer, Cedric Coward and Zach Edey.

In other words, the old Grizzlies are gone. Now comes the harder part — as in, finding out whether the new ones are any good.