The Golden State Warriors watched the Giannis Antetokounmpo dream sail away until it landed at the Miami Heat earlier in the week, and enough days have now gone by where the front office can look to circle their next ideal, albeit slightly unrealistic target.
The Minnesota Timberwolves officially traded for LaMelo Ball on Thursday, expressing the willingness to keep building around Anthony Edwards in an attempt to keep the superstar guard happy after recent murmurs of being disgruntled.
Anthony Edwards might be Warriors' next dream trade target
The Warriors will surely be one of 29 other teams who will be closely monitoring the Timberwolves situation next season after this Ball move. Any sign of failure or disappointment and it could knock the door slightly ajar for Edwards to seriously consider his future, even despite having made a pair of Western Conference Finals appearances in the previous two years before this past season.
Less than 72 hours before the Ball trade came to pass, ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Tim MacMahon and Bobby Marks discussed Edwards' future on The Hoop Collective and outlined the 24-year-old as the next potential superstar in their prime who could be on the move.
“If you were to say who’s next after Giannis? We would have said Ant. And that (Randle trade) happened at the exact same time as the Giannis trade. It’s fascinating," Windhorst pondered.
“The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market," MacMahon responded.
Is there a sense of desperation in this Ball move? It certainly came out of nowhere, and the fact Minnesota have given up their 2033 first-round pick and three first-round pick swaps limits their ability to make another major swing in the future.
Warriors should keep their eye on Edwards without going overboard
While Stephen Curry is too deep into his career to truly consider the pairing of he and Edwards in a Warriors uniform, the latter may just be the perfect replacement as the next face of the franchise after they narrowly and painfully missed the opportunity at the 2020 NBA Draft.
As such, Golden State should be keeping an eye on Edwards' situation to see if an opportunity arises, but they also shouldn't go overboard in a way they arguably did with Antetokounmpo. Over the last few years they've kept their powder dry to go all in on a move for the 2x MVP, only to be out of the conversation completely once things started heating up in recent weeks.
The Warriors should be willing to move assets for alternative moves this offseason and going forward, but Edwards may be at the top of their wish-list after the Antetokounmpo and Ball trades this week.
Add us as a preferred source on Google