New Anthony Edwards Trade Rumors Reveal 'Vultures are Swirling' After Giannis, Julius Randle Deals

NBA teams reportedly are anticipating the possibility of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards being the next superstar to get dealt following the Milwaukee Bucks' trade of Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat on Monday night.

Speaking Tuesday on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective (beginning at the 35:30 mark), ESPN's Tim MacMahon said, "The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who's available in the trade market."

ESPN's Brian Windhorst added that Edwards has been "frustrated" ever since the T-Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in 2024 due to the amount of double-teams he has faced as a result.

On Monday, Minnesota traded its second-leading scorer from last season in Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a three-team deal that also included the Chicago Bulls, per ESPN's Shams Charania (h/t ESPN's Dave McMenamin).

The Timberwolves also traded away the No. 28 overall pick in the 2026 NBA draft in the deal, and only received the No. 33 overall pick in the second round, as they were primarily focused on shedding salary.

Charania noted that the move allows Minnesota to re-sign free-agent guard Ayo Dosunmu to an anticipated five-year, $112 million contract.

Windhorst suggested at the 36:42 mark of the podcast that Edwards may have been fine with the idea of trading Randle, noting that Edwards wasn't "the biggest Julius Randle fan," and adding that there was a "significant disconnect" between Edwards and Randle by the end of this past season.

However, Windhorst did wonder if Edwards would have an issue with Randle being a salary dump rather than bringing back something of value.

The Timberwolves have gone on multiple deep playoff runs in recent years, reaching in the Western Conference Finals both before and after the Towns trade in 2024 and 2025.

Minnesota made it to the second round of the playoffs last season as well, but it was outclassed by the San Antonio Spurs in a 4-2 series loss.

The 24-year-old Edwards has improved over each of his six NBA seasons, and the 2025-26 campaign was his best thus far, as he averaged a career-high 28.8 points per game to go along with 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.4 three-pointers made and 1.4 steals.

Edwards also shot a career-best 48.9 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Despite that, Minnesota was only the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference with a 49-33 record, and it has reached the 50-win mark only once in the past 22 seasons.

With Towns entrenched and winning championships in New York and Randle now out of the picture as well, it is fair to wonder if the T-Wolves will take another step backward as a team next season.

Minnesota has some quality pieces in the form of Edwards, Dosunmu, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo, but there isn't much room to improve the roster otherwise, and if the team stagnates, the trade whispers surrounding Edwards may only get louder.