In discussing how newly-acquired Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were going to fit on this season’s roster, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch also dropped in an interesting comment. He wanted to make certain fans knew that one of the reasons the Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns was to ensure they can mold and re-mold the roster in future years. “It does give us flexibility and mechanisms to keep remaking the team going forward,” Finch said.
Finch didn’t expressly say that the team could remake and remold the team around Anthony Edwards, but that is the organizational intent with this trade. And when viewed through that lens, the Wolves’ willingness to deal Towns becomes clearer. This season, Edwards is entering a new stage of his career, and that has consequences — and responsibilities — for the Wolves this season and beyond.
He is beginning the first of a five-year contract that is paying him maximum money, slightly more than $42 million this season alone. By the time he is playing on a new contract, he will be 28. Some of the greats of the game, the current and past players Edwards is chasing, won their first title by then.
LeBron James did, so did Stephen Curry. When a team, especially one that is mid-market, has a potential MVP candidate on its roster at this stage in his career, it must demonstrate it can be a consistent winner in order to keep him around. Finch and Wolves front office assistant Dell Demps know this too well from their time in New Orleans, .