Bleacher Report put Kyrie Irving at the center of a blockbuster trade idea that would send him from Dallas to Minnesota, with Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and three draft assets going the other way. For Anthony Edwards, it would be a swing at the kind of secondary creator the Timberwolves have lacked when the games tighten.
The timing is obvious. Edwards has carried a Minnesota offense that has leaned too hard on him in the playoffs, even as the team won five playoff series over the last three seasons and reached the Western Conference Finals twice. Yet the Wolves still posted a 108.1 postseason offensive rating, the worst of any playoff team that played at least 10 games, which is why a search for help around Edwards has turned into a search for a name as big as Irving.
Irving fits the argument on paper. He was a 2024-25 All-Star, averaged 24.7 points and 4.6 assists for Dallas while shooting 47.3 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three and 91.6 percent from the line, and the idea would let him run a team on a part-time basis in Minnesota rather than carry the full burden every night. He is also 34, and he has not played since March of 2025 after a torn ACL.
That is where the price starts to bite. The proposed deal would cost Minnesota the 2026 first-round pick at No. 28, a 2030 first-round swap and a 2033 first-round pick with lottery protection, a steep package for a player with a $39.5 million salary in 2026-27 and a $42.4 million player option for 2027-28. Dallas would get Randle, who is owed $33.3 million before a $35.8 million player option in 2027-28, but the Mavericks are short on usable draft flexibility because they cannot trade one of their own first-round picks until 2031, owe Charlotte a top-two protected first-round pick next year, have Oklahoma City swap rights on their 2028 pick and have their 2029 pick tied up with Houston or Brooklyn.
That is why this remains a proposal, not a path. Minnesota can see the appeal of adding a proven creator next to Edwards, but the cost in picks and the uncertainty around Irving’s knee make it the kind of deal that looks cleaner on a board than in a front office. Until Dallas decides whether that return is enough, the real story is not that Irving is coming to Minnesota; it is that the Wolves are still searching for a fix big enough to matter.
For readers following the Cooper Flagg conversation around the league, the larger point is the same: the teams chasing upside are now being asked to pay full price for old stars, injured stars and future flexibility all at once.
