Official Anthony Edwards Thread

[Guidus88]

Given a tough decision with two or three options, Wolves have ALWAYS chosen the wrong option. It really never fails.

Towns over Okafor comes to mind.

Love over Mayo.

westbrook over Love

[Neeva]

Hindsight is so great, isn’t it?
It is funny the over the top Lamelo haters are MIA though.

[Neeva]

Going full blown arrogant on this one, but I really wish I was a worse Draft talent evaluator than the Timberwolves, because consistently having a better eye for talent than the team I cheer for (over the course of a decade +) is a huge buzzkill. As somebody who actually watched him in the NBL, LaMelo was such an obvious pick. I desperately just want the team I cheer for to make me feel like an idiot. Just one time, it is all I ask. Let Anthony Edwards turn into Wade so people can point and laugh at this post, and call me a clown.

I have plenty of major Draft blunders (Giannis, Trae Young, Dennis Smith Jr., I preferred Markkanan over Isaac, the list is endless), but I have never done worse than the Minnesota Timberwolves. I would be sad for a while, but the team being moved would probably be positive for my overall enjoyment of basketball.

I really do not feel encouraged about Edwards’ play, he is arguably the worst defensive player in the League (I believe bottom five, but not quite worst), he is lost off-ball offensively, his passing awareness is limited, and he draws fouls at a low rate. I don’t question his scoring talent, but especially on a team like this, I so not expect him to develop into an efficient player; it’s an uphill climb. LaMelo is just so much more advanced at every single facet of the game, it is not even close. I am pretty much at the point of giving up on the franchise, at this point. Hopefully next season is better, but this is by FAR the worst I have ever felt about being a Minnesota Timberwolves fan.

I am an unqualified and irrelevant sports fan who has no future in the industry, I want my team to consistently remind me of that.

You liked Lamelo but weren’t you high on Toppin as well...

[NebWolvesFan]

Edwards has actually shown some good passing skills and he has a solid assist to turnover ratio for his usage. Put him with players who can actually hit shots, and I still see Edwards as a player who could average 25-5-5, and I think he could be someone who could average 1.5 steals a game. He has amazing hands, great reach, and quick jumping ability. We've already seen him make some amazing steals. As his steals and rebounds go up as the game slows down for him, his defensive metrics will improve,

There's so much speed and explosion to Ant's game. If he's willing to be coached - and I'm confident that he is - he will be a tremendous pro.

And honestly, I will always take an all-star wing over an all-star PG. PGs are just easier to find.

[Domejandro]

You liked Lamelo but weren’t you high on Toppin as well...

I have a ton bad takes, but I was probably the most lukewarm towards picking Obi Toppin on this board.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2008821&p=85817559&hilit=Toppin#p85817559

Dude, you are calling it nonsense, but I don’t see you actually watching the games and providing analysis.

Obi Toppin was legitimately a disaster defensively in college. That isn’t a debatable thing, he was genuinely bad as a defender.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2008821&p=85829856&hilit=Toppin#p85829856

The concern is that Obi Toppin benefitted a substantial amount from playing center in college, which makes the transition a lot shakier. I am not inherently opposed to trading down and selecting him, but there are definitely risks.

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1990380&p=85580346&hilit=Toppin#p85580346

I just wish Toppin wasn't such a sieve defensively. It is a huge problem.

8 May 2020:
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1962948&p=82966494&hilit=Toppin#p82966494

Derrick Williams had three things going against him.

1. He had subpar hand-eye coordination, which limited his ability to catch in traffic and handle the ball.
2. I have heard that he was relatively lackadaisical in practice.
3. He started his career in the wrong position, stuck behind a better player in Kevin Love.

One concern with Obi Toppin is that he is 3-3.5 years older than the majority of top prospects and played a ton at the Center position for Dayton.

This Draft, the take of mine that might turn out badly is that I really believed (and still do) that Aaron Nesmith is going to be a really good rotational player. I was entirely in favour of selecting LaMelo Ball, though, so admittedly I did not give myself much of an opportunity to make controversial takes (beyond ones on him) during the 2020 Draft.

[Calinks]

I am pretty much at the point of giving up on the franchise, at this point. Hopefully next season is better, but this is by FAR the worst I have ever felt about being a Minnesota Timberwolves fan.

I am an unqualified and irrelevant sports fan who has no future in the industry, I want my team to consistently remind me of that.

Sad but I get it. These are some of the darkest times this franchise has faced. Many can't even be excited about Edwards because of our past terrible experiences with poor wings (Wiggins, Johnson, Williams). Dark days man, wolves fans really needed something good to happen and things got worse, really hard to come back from that. I think a lot of die-hard fans are about to walk away for good if they haven't already, this franchise has beaten them down far too much. I don't know if the front office realizes this though I guess they probably do looking at the engagement numbers.

[mplsfonz23]

I say, start the tank. Keep the pick.

So you choose to lose the 2022 pick instead.

Thanks to Rossas we are going to lose one anyway. So yes, I would rather keep 2021 pick in a loaded draft. Plus after this next season (21-22) if they don't or can't improve, then what's the point in drafting anyway?

[jpatrick]

I say, start the tank. Keep the pick.

So you choose to lose the 2022 pick instead.

Thanks to Rossas we are going to lose one anyway. So yes, I would rather keep 2021 pick in a loaded draft. Plus after this next season (21-22) if they don't or can't improve, then what's the point in drafting anyway?

Yeah, our pick is essentially guaranteed to be top six this year. The hope is that with some moves, maybe getting lucky and grabbing Cade Cunningham, we can actually challenge for a playoff spot by 2022.

I’m also not as convinced as I once was that 2022 will be a double draft.

[Jedzz]

I say, start the tank. Keep the pick.

So you choose to lose the 2022 pick instead.

Thanks to Rossas we are going to lose one anyway. So yes, I would rather keep 2021 pick in a loaded draft. Plus after this next season (21-22) if they don't or can't improve, then what's the point in drafting anyway?

Well, how exactly are we going to expect them to be better or when, when each year is spent getting a new highly drafted player his starts and 30 minutes and keep pushing more prepared players down or cutting them out? At some point it's a great question, why are they still drafting? They should be trading the pick away to better align the roster and trying to win. Otherwise you are just annually spending seasons developing and moving sideways.

You posed the question as if "after 21-22 season" if they don't or can't improve. I don't see how they can with this path except for the hope that a new pick is an instant young star improving everyone around him. But look at the names and positions they play that people are already talking about. They are talking about displacing players we already have in place. It's another sideways move that makes the team worse, not better, or only marginally better if that person is marginally better rook than we already have in Edwards, or somehow marginally better as a rook than say Beasley our young yet Vet, etc. With each high draft pick the team is likely looking at least at another 2-3 years of developing that player into a truly useful player even thinking positively. Most of these choices are decisions to move sideways and punt the problem again into the future.

[Klomp]

Certainly looks like Rosas screwed this up. Of course, Edwards still has a chance but the odds aren't good that he will grow past Lamello in the future, I just don't see anything right now that makes me feel that.

It doesn't mean he screwed it up. If Edwards has a long and successful career here but never passes up Ball, that doesn't make the pick a failure.

[Dalvin]

I think this franchise is cursed. Whoever we pick will most probably be a bust. If we picked Ball first overall, he would be playing like what Rubio is playing right now and Edwards would be blowing it up in Charlotte.

I think the problem is not the players we draft, it's how we develop them. I would bet that if we have drafted Curry, he would've had a career trajectory similar to Jimmer. If Towns was drafted by any other team, he would've been a better Anthony Davis by now.

[TheDominator273]

Good lord people, LaMelo having a better rookie year than Edwards doesn't mean we blew the pick. That happening was as close to a guarantee as you can get.

Ant has every bit of talent LaMelo does plus a ton more athleticism. The way he has flashed has shown me that he can be a legit wing sized version of Donovan Mitchell who absolutely contributes to winning. We've seen growth in Ants game as the season has gone on, this isn't Wiggins where he was the same player his entire run here. Ant is eager to learn and is going to make mistakes due to being inexperienced but I'm completely encouraged by things he's shown so far, and I say that as someone who didn't want to draft him.

[King Malta]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm nowhere near as down on Edwards as some in here.

He's got a tonne of warts at the moment, it's undeniable, but he's shown more than enough flashes for me to believe that he has the potential to be a multi-time all-star wing in this league.

His efficiency is concerning but that's more about habits and choice than his actual ability in my opinion. He still takes a lot of questionable shots (although much less than he took in college) and this has obviously lead to a pretty poor FG/3FG efficiency. However, he's shown an ability to get to the rim almost at will, and has displayed more highlight reel dunks/finishes than I can remember seeing out of a 19 year old rookie. He's also shown a pretty decent of awareness when it comes to his drive and kick game, especially for someone so young.

I think he shows enough defensive flashes here and there to be confident that he can be educated towards being an effective or break even player on that end, but I can also understand how our experiences with young wings in the past would lead people to fear the worst there.

This is probably a terrifying thought given our track record, but while I think Edwards is a potential star (and maybe even superstar) talent, I do feel like he's the sort of raw prospect who's future will be influenced heavily by coaching and development. Hopefully in Finch, Prigioni, DV (if he stays) and whoever else the Wolves bring in moving forward we've got a team of coaches that are able to instill positive habits into this very raw talent we've got. At the very least he seems like a high energy, coachable kid. Unlike the last wing prospect we had....

As far as Ball, I was down on him pre-draft so I'll take my L on that. I too watched him play in the NBL and my comp for him was: "Ben Simmons with a (poor) jumpshot and no defense)". Now that struck me as a guy who had a chance to be an elite talent but also had high bust potential, and also lacked 2 key abilities that this roster needed. Now as it turns out, Lamelo seems to actually be a pretty decent shooter despite his weird jumper, is it sustainable? We'll see, he still plays horrific defense though. At this point I think Ball is the clear #1 prospect coming out of this draft, with Edwards coming in at #2. I don't think it's completely out of the question that Ant can outperform Ball long-term though.

As a final point, I hope the NBL gets a little more respect now as a result of this, and people view professional basketball as the legitimate proving ground that it can be for young prospects.

[Jedzz]

Hindsight is so great, isn’t it?
It is funny the over the top Lamelo haters are MIA though.

Who's MIA? I'm here. I consider myself categorized as a Lamelo hater for suggesting his hype didn't match what his play was showing and didn't deserve our choice at #1, didn't feel it was wise to select a PG at this time for the team, didn't feel there was any recent proof he could shoot in recent play.

I have already suggested I may have been wholly wrong about him. Seeing a triple double game from him already live was an eye opener. We'll see if he can prove out to be a consistent player yet the likes of which earn him a spot near the top of the league for years as a real star. But the early signs already have been something to take note of. No doubt there. There is also a chance his game isn't as deep as early signs point to and the league could also come to figure him out and limit him yet. This will be his task to overcome annually and be that player so many believed in.

I still laugh that the fans and the team felt they only had three to choose from. Haliburton has had as good a rookie showing in my book. Others as well. Some no where near top ten. How about Quickley at pick #25, selected by OKC, ends up with Knicks! This kid has played insane for a rook. How Knicks get him? Because the Knicks picked Bolmero 23rd and Rosas had to have him. So after trading for the 25th pick, he trades that pick for Bolmero from 23. Knicks then pick Quickley! Feels a lot like when Rosas traded up from 11th to 6th with Suns and pick Culver and Suns select Cam Johnson 11th with MN's pick and get a 39% three pt shooting rookie. Turns out, the guys getting paid to spend their time evaluating these player options can't handle it better than random fans posting in a forum. That's an issue.

So yeah.

Given a tough ANY decision with two or threeoptions, Wolves have NEARLY always chosen the wrong option.

If it plays out that there was only one great player out of that top 3 and it ends up LaMello, then Rosas second top draft choice will have been more of the same. Can't wait for his third top choice.

[Jedzz]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm nowhere near as down on Edwards as some in here.

He's got a tonne of warts at the moment, it's undeniable, but he's shown more than enough flashes for me to believe that he has the potential to be a multi-time all-star wing in this league.

His efficiency is concerning but that's more about habits and choice than his actual ability in my opinion...

All that may be true. But when the team has shown they will start him while showing that inefficiency and bad habits just as strongly as he had in college it sure looks like he may end up like Wiggins. Who never seemed to know he had anything to work on until he ends up on his way out. A1 from Day 1 sure sounds like a humble character that will learn these things on his own without a good franchise developing him correctly. right?

[King Malta]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm nowhere near as down on Edwards as some in here.

He's got a tonne of warts at the moment, it's undeniable, but he's shown more than enough flashes for me to believe that he has the potential to be a multi-time all-star wing in this league.

His efficiency is concerning but that's more about habits and choice than his actual ability in my opinion...

All that may be true. But when the team has shown they will start him while showing that inefficiency and bad habits just as strongly as he had in college it sure looks like he may end up like Wiggins. Who never seemed to know he had anything to work on until he ends up on his way out. A1 from Day 1 sure sounds like a humble character that will learn these things on his own without a good franchise developing him correctly. right?

The Ringer Podcast went over some of his shooting splits as far as contested 3's/midrange jumpers and he was taking lower percentages of these thus far in the NBA as opposed to college, so he's shown the willingness to adjust that at some level already.

I think he does seem like a humble kid, sure he's got a big personality and seems to have a bit of a charismatic/fun streak but I don't that suggests that he's not coachable or has a negative personality, if that's what you're suggesting.

EDIT: For reference

Read on Twitter

[Jedzz]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm nowhere near as down on Edwards as some in here.

He's got a tonne of warts at the moment, it's undeniable, but he's shown more than enough flashes for me to believe that he has the potential to be a multi-time all-star wing in this league.

His efficiency is concerning but that's more about habits and choice than his actual ability in my opinion...

All that may be true. But when the team has shown they will start him while showing that inefficiency and bad habits just as strongly as he had in college it sure looks like he may end up like Wiggins. Who never seemed to know he had anything to work on until he ends up on his way out. A1 from Day 1 sure sounds like a humble character that will learn these things on his own without a good franchise developing him correctly. right?

The Ringer Podcast went over some of his shooting splits as far as contested 3's/midrange jumpers and he was taking lower percentages of these thus far in the NBA as opposed to college, so he's shown the willingness to adjust that at some level already.

I think he does seem like a humble kid, sure he's got a big personality and seems to have a bit of a charismatic/fun streak but I don't that suggests that he's not coachable or has a negative personality, if that's what you're suggesting.

EDIT: For reference

Read on Twitter

I'll have to take your word for their level of research on this. From my eye test watching the games I've seen anyway, he has often been the exact same guy he was in college while also having some much cleaner games mixed in. Yes I noticed them too. However I noticed them happening more when he was slapped from his perch a bit. Now starting...don't see the efficiency right now. Now if you go back to his college games there are a few amazing games mixed in and really that's where most of the belief in his future came from. The question that begs to be asked is, can he become a consistent good decision maker or are these issues going to haunt him for his career, and where the "good games" more a product of the opponent say putting less pressure on him than others or whatever the case may be that has the stars align for him to play wiser ball.

Hating to do so, but going back to the Wiggins comparison we see Wiggins had games mixed in where he was utterly amazing where all his shortcomings seemed to vanish as if never there. How many years did we wait intently for that to become more common from him? Even today for GSW he's having his inefficient shooting games steadily even if they are getting more defensive efforts and somehow getting him to play in an offense with others better. He's got 7 years of bad habits ingrained to unravel. Will 4 to 6 years with the Timberwolves foster the good habits in Edwards?

[King Malta]

All that may be true. But when the team has shown they will start him while showing that inefficiency and bad habits just as strongly as he had in college it sure looks like he may end up like Wiggins. Who never seemed to know he had anything to work on until he ends up on his way out. A1 from Day 1 sure sounds like a humble character that will learn these things on his own without a good franchise developing him correctly. right?

The Ringer Podcast went over some of his shooting splits as far as contested 3's/midrange jumpers and he was taking lower percentages of these thus far in the NBA as opposed to college, so he's shown the willingness to adjust that at some level already.

I think he does seem like a humble kid, sure he's got a big personality and seems to have a bit of a charismatic/fun streak but I don't that suggests that he's not coachable or has a negative personality, if that's what you're suggesting.

EDIT: For reference

Read on Twitter

I'll have to take your word for their level of research on this. From my eye test watching the games I've seen anyway, he has often been the exact same guy he was in college while also having some much cleaner games mixed in. Yes I noticed them too. However I noticed them happening more when he was slapped from his perch a bit. Now starting...don't see the efficiency right now. Now if you go back to his college games there are a few amazing games mixed in and really that's where most of the belief in his future came from. The question that begs to be asked is, can he become a consistent good decision maker or are these issues going to haunt him for his career, and where the "good games" more a product of the opponent say putting less pressure on him than others or whatever the case may be that has the stars align for him to play wiser ball.

Hating to do so, but going back to the Wiggins comparison we see Wiggins had games mixed in where he was utterly amazing where all his shortcomings seemed to vanish as if never there. How many years did we wait intently for that to become more common from him? Even today for GSW he's having his inefficient shooting games steadily even if they are getting more defensive efforts and somehow getting him to play in an offense with others better. He's got 7 years of bad habits ingrained to unravel. Will 4 to 6 years with the Timberwolves foster the good habits in Edwards?

I think the fact he's made statistical progress in those areas demonstrates that he's adapted/improved his game in some capacity, clearly we need to see substantially more improvement in that area if he's going to be an effective player though.

To be fair, we never really saw Wiggins put in too many high rebounding/assist games, something Edwards has already done a couple of times. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Edwards is definitely going to be legit, I just feel like this forum is a bit too down on him, although I get it given we've been burned before.

Will we be able to foster the good habits...that is the big question. Historical evidence would say this franchise has constantly struggled to do it, all we've got is hope though, so I'm going to continue to invest in that haha

[Klomp]

Just looking at common numbers, it's fair to say Edwards is a lot like Wiggins. Both around 30% on 3s as rookies. Edwards actually worse overall FG% than Wiggins.

This is even fairly close:
Edwards takes 43% of shots inside 10 feet.
Wiggins took 50% of shots within 10 feet.

Here's the big difference to me.
Edwards takes 41.8% of shots from 3-point range.
Wiggins took 11.1% of shots from 3-point range.

Quickly glancing, you might say that favors Wiggins because it's not an efficient shot for either. Now combine with this:
Edwards takes 15.1% of shots between 10 feet and 3-point range.
Wiggins took 38.7% of shots between 10 feet and 3-point range.

Wiggins wasn't attacking the rim either. But his settling was for a less efficient shot.

[Domejandro]

Just looking at common numbers, it's fair to say Edwards is a lot like Wiggins. Both around 30% on 3s as rookies. Edwards actually worse overall FG% than Wiggins.

This is even fairly close:
Edwards takes 43% of shots inside 10 feet.
Wiggins took 50% of shots within 10 feet.

Here's the big difference to me.
Edwards takes 41.8% of shots from 3-point range.
Wiggins took 11.1% of shots from 3-point range.

Quickly glancing, you might say that favors Wiggins because it's not an efficient shot for either. Now combine with this:
Edwards takes 15.1% of shots between 10 feet and 3-point range.
Wiggins took 38.7% of shots between 10 feet and 3-point range.

Wiggins wasn't attacking the rim either. But his settling was for a less efficient shot.

One thing I would argue that a large part of that is the result of Flip Saunders’ offense, vs. Ryan Saunders’ offense. Flip’s offense prioritized ball-screen action that opened up midrange action, while Ryan’s was more focused towards open three-point attempts and drives.