When Anthony Edwards became the Timberwolves' top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, he was labeled a "parallel trader" by many. From the outside point of view, Edwards seems destined to become the next Andrew Wiggins, who has excellent physical talent but lacks mental quality.
In addition, the Timberwolves are not a team that is good at developing new talents, which has raised concerns about Edwards' prospects. After all, in college, he wasn't scoring very efficiently.
In his first few games, Edwards seemed to confirm that speculation, with poor shot selection and extremely inefficient shooting. Of his first 20 games, only three shot more than 50 percent. Throughout the season, Edwards shot just 52.3 percent from the field, ranking fifth from bottom out of all players with at least 25 percent usage. Not only was he inefficient on the offensive end, but he also couldn't help the team on the defensive end, conceding an average of 5.5 more points per 100 rounds when he was on the floor.
People are beginning to wonder if the Timberwolves, who have been searching for the cornerstone of the team for many years, have wasted another top pick? Is Edwards just another parallel trader?
However, don't worry, the current Edwards is gradually showing the temperament of the wolf king.
In fact, Edwards' mental qualities are not what scouts have speculated. He is not a player who has no desire to win and is self-motivated, and only knows how to consume talent and body. Instead, Edwards worked very hard. As you can see from his transcript, he has been improving continuously over the past 3 years. Especially this season, he averaged 24.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. He shot 46.1 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range.
Compared to his rookie season, Edwards has improved tremendously on the outside and finished at the basket. His true shooting percentage has reached 56.4%, which is the level of an elite scorer. In addition, his ability to play the ball has improved significantly, and he has learned how to use his personal attraction to create opportunities for his teammates.
On top of that, Edwards' defense has also improved a lot. Not only is he very active, but he is often able to play a role in shrinking the basket on the defensive end. He put in 58 blocks in a single season, second only to Derek White and Alexander among backcourt players.
When Edwards was on the floor, the Timberwolves' offensive efficiency increased by 2.0 points per 100 turns, while defensive efficiency decreased by 2.1 points. His role on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends is very obvious.
In addition to his all-round technical and defensive abilities, Edwards has another valuable quality, and that is his strong performance in the playoffs. For example, against the top seed Nuggets in the West, Edwards averaged 31.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. He shot 48.2 percent and 34.9 percent, respectively, better than he did in the regular season.
It can be seen that compared with the first two champions of the Timberwolves, Edwards is more like a real "wolf king". He has a well-rounded style of play, is brave to challenge and can step up in key moments.
To be clear, the current Timberwolves are building a team around Karl Anthony Towns, who remains the leader of the team. If one day, the Timberwolves choose to make Edwards the core and build an offensive and defensive system for him, I believe his performance will be even more impressive. Let's look forward to that day coming sooner rather than later.