Only a few days removed from the stunning trade that sent Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards remains shocked and bewildered that a deal of that magnitude could go down.
Dončić, who turns 26 later this month, is a five-time All-NBA First Team player and last season’s scoring champion, among other accomplishments. To Edwards, he still can’t get over the fact that the Mavericks would be open to moving a player on that level.
“They say that nobody knew about the trade. That’s crazy,” Edwards said following Minnesota’s loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday. “At 25 [years old], they traded probably the best scorer in the NBA. And he didn’t know about it. There’s a lot more digging somebody’s gotta do to find out why he got traded. Because you don’t just trade him at 25. He just went to the Finals. I feel bad for Luka, man.”
The reaction across the basketball world has been a mix of anger and disbelief. Mavericks fans are upset that general manager Nico Harrison believed this was a trade to make for a 26-24 team that sits eighth in the Western Conference. Some protested the move on Sunday by staging a mock funeral and spray-painting messages directed at Harrison. Dončić’s own father slammed the organization, saying his son “absolutely doesn’t deserve this.”
If a player like Dončić can be dealt without a hint a trade is coming, who could be next? That was Edwards’ reaction as he jokingly sent a message to his fellow NBA players to “get informed” about their own statuses and had a message for Timberwolves GM Tim Connelly.
“I’m scared. Tim, if you’re going to trade me, let me know, dawg,” Edwards said. “When Luka got traded, anybody is able to get traded.”
Edwards, 23, is a three-time All-Star and has averaged 23.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists over his five-season career with the Timberwolves. He’s in the first year of a five-year, $204 million max extension he signed in July 2023. That contract runs through the 2028-29 NBA season.
The 2025 NBA trade deadline is Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. ET.
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