'Penny-Pinching' Wolves Move Has NBA Insiders Wondering if Anthony Edwards Will Eventually Ask Out

The pressure on Timberwolves president Tim Connelly to redeem himself from public backlash after a series of questionable roster moves has never been higher. After trading Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in an obvious salary dump, Connelly's latest big move has national insiders wondering how long it'll be before Anthony Edwards asked to be traded.

"This was a Julius Randle salary dump," Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast.

"The takeaway from this is a straight salary dump for Minnesota," Windhorst said. "(He) was a cornerstone piece of this organization that they gave away for nothing but a trade exception."

Windhorst acknowledged that the Randle trade has him wondering what Edwards is thinking, and whether it's a matter of time before the Wolves are in a situation with Edwards like the Bucks just had with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who asked out of Milwaukee and was traded to the Miami Heat on Monday night.

"I'm not declaring anything with certainty except for the fact that the NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who's available in the trade market, or who pushes his way to the trade market," Tim MacMahon said on the podcast with Windhorst and Bobby Marks.

Windhorst said Edwards has been frustrated since Minnesota traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Randle and DiVincenzo before the start of the 2024-25 season.

"Ant was really frustrated throughout, really just been frustrated since Towns got traded in 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."

Minnesota's roster has effectively lost two of its starters from the past two seasons, with Randle being dumped for salary purposes and Donte DiVincenzo expected to miss most of next season as he recovers from a torn Achilles. Signing Ayo Dosunmu to a $112 million contract effectively replaces DiVincenzo, but Naz Reid entering the starting lineup means the next man up in the sixth man role is Terrence Shannon Jr.

It's difficult to look at the current state of the roster and believe Minnesota can hang with the best in the West, like San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

"I don't think Ant was the biggest Julius Randle fan," Windhorst added. "It's not so much about Randle being traded; it's Randle being traded as a salary dump. I don't think that Ant was like, 'No, no, don't trade Julius. Absolutely not. Never.' Because there was some significant disconnect between those players by the end of the season. It's the fact that they traded him into someone else's space that is going to be interesting."

The $33.3 million trade exception from the Randle deal gives Connelly more ammo to build around Edwards, but it's unlikely that he'll be allowed to use the exception, which, in short, allows Minnesota to exceed the luxury tax apron and make a trade without being forced to match salaries.

Something to keep in mind here:

The Wolves are hard-capped at the first apron if they use a trade exception.

Let's say they want Jalen Suggs ($32.4M) into the $33.3M Randle TPE, for example. They'd have less than $200K below the first apron after that, w/ 5 roster spots to fill… https://t.co/aImFvISbqh
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) June 23, 2026

"I'll be blunt," MacMahon opined. "An ownership group that had to purchase a team at a discount rate on layaway is going to cut some corners financially. And a salary dump of a guy who averaged 21-7-and-5 last year for a second-round playoff team is a pretty drastic penny-pinching move."

Jon Krawczynski, the most plugged-in Wolves insider on the planet, indicated late Monday night that Minnesota probably won't utilize the trade exception.

"I will be incredibly surprised if the Wolves ever utilize the $33 million trade exception that was created tonight. Those things are almost always much ado about nothing and it is clear that money was a factor tonight," Krawczynski wrote on X.

So, here we are. The Wolves' new ownership group is already being accused of pinching pennies and looking for ways to build around a superstar without using the trade exception to their advantage because it will force them to pay a luxury tax.

All of this sounds all too familiar to Minnesota sports fans, and Lore and Rodriguez could already be putting themselves in danger of being despised by fans just like Glen Taylor was for the last 30 years.

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