The Minnesota Timberwolves have a 1A. Anthony Edwards is ready to help the organization compete for championships. But he needs the right pieces around him. This summer, the Wolves have a chance to land some of those pieces, but they need to avoid the trade spiral the Phoenix Suns went down with Devin Booker.
Booker has spent his entire career with the Suns, but despite the team’s monster efforts, they haven’t been able to win a championship with him at the helm. Phoenix made a ton of big-swing trades for guys like Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but the flashiness of the deals wasn’t matched by the production. And that was a problem.
That’s the issue the Wolves need to avoid with Edwards.
Timberwolves want to avoid the black hole of trades the Suns made while building around Devin Booker
When the Suns made their trade for Durant – and even the one for Beal – they were viewed as a title contender. Most people thought they had a real chance to do something special.
But now, looking back on the trades with hindsight, they were failures. The Booker-Durant-Beal Suns didn’t work out, and by the final season of their tenure as a trio, they didn’t even make the playoffs.
Booker went through four different sections of Suns history, and none of them were good enough to help him get over the hump. Phoenix got close in 2021, but ultimately fell short to the Milwaukee Bucks.
There were, one, the rebuilding years, two, the Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton years (when the Suns made the Finals), three, the Durant years, and four, the present.
This summer, the Wolves will be entering what is effectively their third type of team with Edwards at the helm, depending on how you classify the Rudy Gobert years.
Edwards had a chance to win with Karl-Anthony Towns and Gobert, and then, there were the Julius Randle-Gobert years. The two conference finals appearances were solid, but Minnesota still fell short.
Booker is still in Phoenix seeking a championship after a decade in the NBA. Edwards will be entering his seventh NBA season, and he has still yet to make the Finals.
If the Wolves make big-swing trades that don’t pan out – much like the Durant and Beal ones – Edwards could turn into the next Booker, or worse:
He could request a trade.
Either way, the Wolves need to be very smart about the way they handle things around their star guard this summer, because they don’t want Edwards’ career to mirror the ‘just-short’ one Booker has had in Phoenix.
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