The Minnesota Timberwolves' pursuit of Kevin Durant leading to the trade deadline was serious enough where they began calling rival teams to help facilitate a deal. The Wolves had to get under the NBA's second apron in order to aggregate contracts to acquire Durant and his $51 million contract.
While Durant is more than a decade older than Anthony Edwards, the Wolves have operated with a sense of urgency in building around him evidenced by their decision to send control of their upcoming drafts to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert in 2022.
But there had been little sense Tim Connelly had interest in a significant in-season deal so soon after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns, but he saw a unique opportunity with the sudden availability of Durant.