MINNEAPOLIS — When Karl-Anthony Towns was sent to the New York Knicks late Friday in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a future first-round pick, Anthony Edwards was on a plane.
When he landed, a surprised Edwards exchanged text messages with his former teammate, who sent a picture of himself standing in the team’s practice facility, possibly for the last time, at 3 in the morning.
“I think everybody knows [Towns] is my brother,” Edwards said Monday during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ media conference. “So that definitely hurts, but you know, it’s a business, so I just have to roll with it.”
Over the last 72 hours, the Timberwolves have undergone a massive change just before training camp. And those changes have created uncertainty about new lineups and the way the additions will tie in with the current roster.
But the Timberwolves, whose top leaders would not comment on Towns because the trade had not been officially announced, also had a different message: if it wasn’t already clear, this is undeniably Edwards’ team.
“We keep challenging [Edwards] because we think he can be one of the best players ever and we don’t say that lightly,” team president Tim Connelly said. “And with that expectation comes a tremendous responsibility.”
Edwards, never one to shrink from the moment, said he agreed with Connelly’s projection.
“I think he’s right,” he said.
Edwards said a summer on the Olympic team with Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant helped him understand the sacrifices needed to achieve his goals. But he said he knows he has to stay committed to get there.
“Just work. I feel like that’s the only way, man. Everybody’s talking about it,” he said of Connelly’s comments. “I mean, the only way is to just work and go out on the court and just believe it. I think a lot of guys got a chance to be really great at this game, but I think they just don’t believe it. I think , that some guys put the work in. Some guys don’t put the work in. So if it doesn’t, it probably won’t .”
Connelly said that because of the new CBA, he studied teams across leagues, including the NFL, to see how they built around stars. The new CBA of the NBA includes the second apron provision that significantly affects the ability of a squad to build a roster due to financial constraints.
Connelly said the goal is to improve a title in Minneapolis by focusing on a young player who finished seventh in the MVP race last year as its core.
The first years of Towns’ four-year, $224 million contract and Edwards’ five-year, $244 million contract begin this season.
“I mean the new rules are … some of the consequences are unintended, quite frankly,” Connelly said. “I don’t know if anybody intended to make this challenge to make moves, make trades when you’re above certain aprons. But you’ve got to be smart, you’ve got to be lucky, you’ve got to hit some of your draft picks and then, I think, that you must, as much as possible, build teams that can stay together for several years.
“Because I think there’s going to be a lot of turnover just because of the economy quickly being so big for some of these teams. I don’t know if it’s going to be exactly like the NFL, but we’ve studied different leagues, we’ve “studied the NFL extensively, like they did those things.”
Towns added a unique dynamic to the team as a seven-footer who made 40% of his 3-point attempts during his career. He will be replaced by Randle, a former All-Star and 33% shooter from beyond the arc for his career.
Rudy Gobert said he will miss Towns on a professional and personal level. He said “time will tell” the winner of the trade, but the changes will change the Timberwolves on the court.
“It’s going to be a process even for us as a team, adjusting to not having [Towns],” Gobert said. “It’s probably going to make us play a different brand of basketball.”
However, Edwards remains the focus as he was last season when he led the franchise to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years. Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said Edwards can still improve in several areas.
“We’re still a team based on movement, cutting, fluidity,” he said. “We have to reestablish that. Some of that burden also falls on Anthony to move and accommodate his teammates out there, too. We also saw last year in the playoffs that teams are committed to giving two defenders for sure and often three. [to guard him].”
Edwards said the Olympics run helped him because he played the “best basketball of my life” in 5-on-5 matchups against future Hall of Famers. He also said he spent more time in the weight room this summer to prepare for the upcoming season.
While he said it was “too soon” to elaborate on the loss of Cities, he said he has no doubts about his ability to reach the legendary status that those around him believe he can achieve.
“[I want to be] the guy that the team needs me to be,” he said. “Whether it’s scoring, passing, defending, getting rebounds or just showing everybody that I’m coachable. Because [Finch]he trains hard, man. So just being a leader by example, just letting him coach me and not saying anything back. You know, being a good player.”
