Julius Randle was Toxic; Anthony Edwards is Acting Timberwolves GM?

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Mar 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shakes hands with forward Jaden McDaniels (3) after making a shot against the San Antonio Spurs in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves were supposed to go big game hunting this offseason. And while that may have been the plan initially for president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, something changed his mind.

When the Bucks came calling with Giannis on the table, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid were no longer available. The same can be said for any other rival front office that tapped on the Timberwolves trying to make a deal before the NBA Draft started last night.

Minnesota’s only move this week was dumping the salary of Julius Randle to move back three spots, and out of the first round. And after Connelly officially gave up on trading back into the first round, he revealed why the offseason has been quiet… and will likely remain that way.

When Minnesota’s PoBO went to Anthony Edwards with some of the trade offers he had on the table in recent weeks, Ant turned them all down as too expensive for what they were getting back.

Anthony Edwards calling the shots for Minnesota Timberwolves?

From the sounds of it, any major move this week would have included either Reid or McDaniels. Not only are those Ant’s two best friends on the team, but they are two basketball talents he believes in and wants to have bigger roles on the team in 2026-27, according to Jon Krawczynski (The Athletic)

So instead of trading them away, Connelly and Edwards decided together that the organization is better off giving McDaniels and Reid a better ramp to step up into bigger roles, than they are trading either away for another bona fide star next to Ant..

Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said after the first round of the draft on Tuesday night that he is in constant contact with Edwards to get his read on the needs of the roster and the path forward…

… Edwards told him he has been looking forward to seeing McDaniels and Reid get more responsibility, and now there are more shots and minutes to go around. While not speaking about specific deals, Connelly said Edwards had been presented with some possibilities that the star discouraged because of how much he believes in some of the teammates that would have had to go out the door.

One of the reasons the Wolves were unable to complete a trade for Antetokounmpo is that they resisted the Bucks’ demands that McDaniels be included in the deal, a team source said.

Jon Krawczynski – The Athletic

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If you doubt Jon’s reporting or feel like he took what Connelly said in the video above out of context, look no further than ESPN for another source of information.

Over there, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins did some background with Anthony Edwards directly, to take the temperature on his happiness in Minnesota.

Ant happy, Julius Randle was toxic

To some surprise on the Get Up set Wednesday morning, Perkins explained that, not only is Ant still happy as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he is the one calling major shots on the roster.

According to Perk, Julius Randle was dumped for nothing because he was creating a toxic environment in the Wolves’ locker room. He also believes the MN Timberwolves are content with their core roster, as stands.

That wasn’t just a salary dump with Julius Randle. That was getting rid of a Toxic environment, meaning Julius Randle was bringing negative energy. Anthony Edwards has belief in Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid. He’s rocking with those guys.

He wants those guys and we gotta prepare for them to have this lineup going all the way up into the trade deadline. And if they’re not where they, where they’re supposed to be, then we can look at them making a trade… [for] like a Kyrie Irving.

If I’m Minnesota, ‘OK, cool, we’ll start with this group.’ I’m monitoring this situation, but by the trade deadline, if I’m not where I wanna be or Anthony Edwards is not happy, you gotta go get a guy like Kyrie Irving that’s sitting in Dallas.

Kendrick Perkins – Get Up (ESPN)

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In other words, Connelly hasn’t made a splash trade yet this offseason because Edwards doesn’t want him to. Once we get closer to the trade deadline, Perkins explained on Get Up, Tim and his superstar player/GM will decide together how to best fix it.

Until then, it sounds like Ant is just happy that Julius Randle’s bad vibes are gone and that his boys, Reid and McDaniels, will now have an opportunity to rise to the occasion.

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