Official Anthony Edwards Thread

[Domejandro]

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.

Anthony Edwards is significantly more athletic, but is worse at every other facet of the game. To be blunt, the “every bit of talent” rhetoric is just not true, Edwards will never be the passer and ball-handle that LaMelo is.

The hope is that Anthony Edwards’ amazing athleticism translates into him becoming an unstoppable scoring force in a way that LaMelo Ball likely will never develop into (though he will still be great). That said, currently LaMelo scores more on significantly less attempts, he is already almost a positive-impact defensive player (Anthony Edwards is bottom of the League), and LaMelo is thriving in the role of leading an NBA-level offense.

I am sorry, but this idea that “he’s more athletic, which means he has a higher ceiling!” just is not passing the smell test. The same exact discussion that was had regarding Luka (who I also caped for aggressively). Better athleticism does not mean “higher ceiling”, especially when the other prospect is better at every other aspect of the game and is the exact same age (to the month).

[Jedzz]

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.

Anthony Edwards is significantly more athletic, but is worse at every other facet of the game. To be blunt, the “every bit of talent” rhetoric is just not true, Edwards will never be the passer and ball-handle that LaMelo is.

The hope is that Anthony Edwards’ amazing athleticism translates into him becoming an unstoppable scoring force in a way that LaMelo Ball likely will never develop into (though he will still be great). That said, currently LaMelo scores more on significantly less attempts, he is already almost a positive-impact defensive player (Anthony Edwards is bottom of the League), and LaMelo is thriving in the role of leading an NBA-level offense.

I am sorry, but this idea that “he’s more athletic, which means he has a higher ceiling!” just is not passing the smell test. The same exact discussion that was had regarding Luka (who I also caped for aggressively). Better athleticism does not mean “higher ceiling”, especially when the other prospect is better at every other aspect of the game and is the exact same age (to the month).

I can see both sides of this, but only if Ant continues to increase the amount of times he destroys the net. That burst is real and finishing that hard will have the entire league getting out of his way before long or committing constant fouls and and1s. More of those burst drives will all focus on finishing hard, let the finesse finishes come later. Back off the amount of 3s, pass out of contested shots, just take the open pass shots. and he'll be fine. He is not the same kind of player as LaMello. I don't expect them to have all the same skills. They may have similar confidence without showing that translate the same to shooting yet.

[Jedzz]

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.

i agree

[Calinks]

I hope you guys are right. For me, I think you usually see that a guy can be a star in his rookie season, yes, he may not be great but you can see it. I saw it with KAT easily, people saw it with KG, I saw it with Love, I even felt it with Zach. Just not getting the same vibes from Edwards. He has so much he has to fix and I just think it's hard to close that gap but I could be wrong. I really hope I am. I will feel better the more I see him attacking and finishing at the rim, that skill alone can make him really good. He just needs to finish a lot better.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just some fun stats:

- Anthony Edwards has shot above 50% in 2 of 35 games.
- He has shot below 30% (10) times.

- Edwards has a -5.0 BPM. That's behind only top 2019 draft pick, Jarrett Culver... and top 2018 draft pick, Josh Okogie... for the worst... on the worst team in the league.

- Anthony Edwards has a negative WS rating (-0.8)... the only guy on the worst team in the league without a positive win share rating.

- Edwards has been getting more minutes recently. The Wolves are 0 - 7 with Edwards leading the team in shots and minutes.

___________________

I know Rosas wasn't here for previous regimes. He didn't get to see how giving the keys to the castle has worked out in the past. BUT... Glen Taylor was here.

And yet... here we are. Again.

___________________

Everybody sees Edwards' potential. It's obvious and sometimes breathtaking... in flashes. But how do the Wolves transition him from inefficient volume stats guy on a terrible team to a guy who actually helps the team win games?

I dunno. That's the billion dollar question hanging over this franchise for many, many years. We've seen this act before even if Rosas wants to believe we haven't.

Personally, I believe that TRYING TO WIN GAMES shows your young players the importance the organization places on winning. Shocking concept... but how often in the team's history has the organization actually TRIED TO WIN?

[Worm Guts]

Personally, I believe that TRYING TO WIN GAMES shows your young players the importance the organization places on winning. Shocking concept... but how often in the team's history has the organization actually TRIED TO WIN?

Are we convinced this team isn't trying to win games? This team is bad, but I don't think they are tanking.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Personally, I believe that TRYING TO WIN GAMES shows your young players the importance the organization places on winning. Shocking concept... but how often in the team's history has the organization actually TRIED TO WIN?

Are we convinced this team isn't trying to win games? This team is bad, but I don't think they are tanking.

They are DEFINITELY trying to lose games. Even before Beasley was lost... they are giving more minutes to the team's worst player (if we're valuing wins and losses) than its best player.

Rosas digs analytics. Think of it this way... would you risk your own fame/fortune on a 20% chance or even 30% chance... when a 40% chance was staring you in the face?

So, feed the kid. Give him the most shots. The most minutes. He'll flash more than enough to give us all hope to believe this time it's gonna work out. Meanwhile, he's actively helping the team lose games right now. It's a win-win... for Rosas.

[Worm Guts]

Personally, I believe that TRYING TO WIN GAMES shows your young players the importance the organization places on winning. Shocking concept... but how often in the team's history has the organization actually TRIED TO WIN?

Are we convinced this team isn't trying to win games? This team is bad, but I don't think they are tanking.

They are DEFINITELY trying to lose games. Even before Beasley was lost... they are giving more minutes to the team's worst player (if we're valuing wins and losses) than its best player.

Rosas digs analytics. Think of it this way... would you risk your own fame/fortune on a 20% chance or even 30% chance... when a 40% chance was staring you in the face?

So, feed the kid. Give him the most shots. The most minutes. He'll flash more than enough to give us all hope to believe this time it's gonna work out. Meanwhile, he's actively helping the team lose games right now. It's a win-win... for Rosas.

I don't think they're trying to lose, but I do think the future is more important to them than the present. When teams go full tank, they are actively trying to lose.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Are we convinced this team isn't trying to win games? This team is bad, but I don't think they are tanking.

They are DEFINITELY trying to lose games. Even before Beasley was lost... they are giving more minutes to the team's worst player (if we're valuing wins and losses) than its best player.

Rosas digs analytics. Think of it this way... would you risk your own fame/fortune on a 20% chance or even 30% chance... when a 40% chance was staring you in the face?

So, feed the kid. Give him the most shots. The most minutes. He'll flash more than enough to give us all hope to believe this time it's gonna work out. Meanwhile, he's actively helping the team lose games right now. It's a win-win... for Rosas.

I don't think they're trying to lose, but I do think the future is more important to them than the present. When teams go full tank, they are actively trying to lose.

Rosas thanks you for your patronage.

I don't mean that to sound condescending. But putting the Promise of Hope above wins is indeed tanking. It's actively trying... or... not caring... about whether a team wins or loses in the present.

We've seen MANY different variations of this in Wolves lore. Some of the end-of-season tank jobs have gone from the extreme (Mark Madsen game) to the more subtle (play all the young guys while losing 17 straight games) variety.

But both send a pretty strong message — winning isn't the top priority.

[Worm Guts]

They are DEFINITELY trying to lose games. Even before Beasley was lost... they are giving more minutes to the team's worst player (if we're valuing wins and losses) than its best player.

Rosas digs analytics. Think of it this way... would you risk your own fame/fortune on a 20% chance or even 30% chance... when a 40% chance was staring you in the face?

So, feed the kid. Give him the most shots. The most minutes. He'll flash more than enough to give us all hope to believe this time it's gonna work out. Meanwhile, he's actively helping the team lose games right now. It's a win-win... for Rosas.

I don't think they're trying to lose, but I do think the future is more important to them than the present. When teams go full tank, they are actively trying to lose.

Rosas thanks you for your patronage.

I don't mean that to sound condescending. But putting the Promise of Hope above wins is indeed tanking. It's actively trying... or... not caring... about whether a team wins or loses in the present.

We've seen MANY different variations of this in Wolves lore. Some of the end-of-season tank jobs have gone from the extreme (Mark Madsen game) to the more subtle (build for the future while losing 17 straight games) variety.

But both send a pretty strong message — winning isn't the top priority.

There's a difference between winning not being the top priority ad actively trying to lose. At this point it would be pretty tough to argue that the future shouldn't be priority over winning, although there are different philosophies on how to approach that.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I don't think they're trying to lose, but I do think the future is more important to them than the present. When teams go full tank, they are actively trying to lose.

Rosas thanks you for your patronage.

I don't mean that to sound condescending. But putting the Promise of Hope above wins is indeed tanking. It's actively trying... or... not caring... about whether a team wins or loses in the present.

We've seen MANY different variations of this in Wolves lore. Some of the end-of-season tank jobs have gone from the extreme (Mark Madsen game) to the more subtle (build for the future while losing 17 straight games) variety.

But both send a pretty strong message — winning isn't the top priority.

There's a difference between winning not being the top priority ad actively trying to lose. At this point it would be pretty tough to argue that the future shouldn't be priority over winning, although there are different philosophies on how to approach that.

I guess we just disagree on what trying to lose means.

Even those 76ers teams cited were playing the Promise of Hope game where they could tell fans that they were trying to help the young guys develop.




[Note: Yes. I should have written "a" instead of "the" top priority. Obviously, winning three more games is moot for this season, especially at the expense of player development. But winning hasn't been among the top priorities for this club for so many seasons... I've become pretty adept at spotting the signs that they've effectively mailed it in when it comes to winning and losing. I believe strongly that the stench of a losing culture is strong with this club because it's spent more seasons trying to lose... err... not caring about winning than it has actually trying to win games. We see the results. The Wolves are the worst. Ever. And we keep wondering why young promising players brought up in this culture never seem to impact winning in a positive way...]

[Worm Guts]

Rosas thanks you for your patronage.

I don't mean that to sound condescending. But putting the Promise of Hope above wins is indeed tanking. It's actively trying... or... not caring... about whether a team wins or loses in the present.

We've seen MANY different variations of this in Wolves lore. Some of the end-of-season tank jobs have gone from the extreme (Mark Madsen game) to the more subtle (build for the future while losing 17 straight games) variety.

But both send a pretty strong message — winning isn't the top priority.

There's a difference between winning not being the top priority ad actively trying to lose. At this point it would be pretty tough to argue that the future shouldn't be priority over winning, although there are different philosophies on how to approach that.

I guess we just disagree on what trying to lose means.

Even those 76ers teams cited were playing the Promise of Hope game where they could tell fans that they were trying to help the young guys develop.

I still don't think that's really a great comparison. In general, I think the Wolves are playing the players they think give them the best chance at winning.

[Calinks]

I don't know if I agree with the tanking notion either, I think it's really stupid to be tanking at this point. Rosas' job is on the line, I don't think he is getting fired this season but if this team continues to be miserable, and then we find up giving away the 3-4th pick and are still bad next season, it's over. I don't think he would tank and risk his career over trying to get lucky with a draft pick unless he thinks that's the only way he can improve this team and thus, save his job.

[AbeVigodaLive]

There's a difference between winning not being the top priority ad actively trying to lose. At this point it would be pretty tough to argue that the future shouldn't be priority over winning, although there are different philosophies on how to approach that.

I guess we just disagree on what trying to lose means.

Even those 76ers teams cited were playing the Promise of Hope game where they could tell fans that they were trying to help the young guys develop.

I still don't think that's really a great comparison. In general, I think the Wolves are playing the players they think give them the best chance at winning.

How is playing Edwards more minutes than Towns giving the team a better chance at winning in the present?

I get the lack of options behind Edwards... and Reid being serviceable behind Towns. I get that Beasley's suspension screws things up even more. But Edwards was already getting more minutes.

It's fine if Rosas truly believes more minutes for Edwards directly improves his development. His job/career is on the line largely by how Edwards turns out. And just because Wiggins failed with this approach doesn't mean Edwards will. It's a fine line. I don't know what the definitive best path to take with Edwards is.

But... all that being said... there are a host of statistics that indicate that Edwards is actively helping the Wolves lose.

[Worm Guts]

I guess we just disagree on what trying to lose means.

Even those 76ers teams cited were playing the Promise of Hope game where they could tell fans that they were trying to help the young guys develop.

I still don't think that's really a great comparison. In general, I think the Wolves are playing the players they think give them the best chance at winning.

How is playing Edwards more minutes than Towns giving the team a better chance at winning in the present?

I get the lack of options behind Edwards... and Reid being serviceable behind Towns. I get that Beasley's suspension screws things up even more. But Edwards was already getting more minutes.

It's fine if Rosas truly believes more minutes for Edwards directly improves his development. His job/career is on the line largely by how Edwards turns out. And just because Wiggins failed with this approach doesn't mean Edwards will. It's a fine line. I don't know what the definitive best path to take with Edwards is.

But... all that being said... there are a host of statistics that indicate that Edwards is actively helping the Wolves lose.

That's one player though and the number one pick. Giving minutes to the number one pick would probably be expected even from teams much better than the Wolves. That's not the same as playing young players just for the sake of playing young players. It's not like the Wolves are keeping quality players on the bench.
As far as having more minutes than Towns, Towns averages more minutes. There's been a few games lately that Town's has been in foul trouble and/or the games have been blowouts which would lead to having Towns with reduced minutes.

[Klomp]

How is playing Edwards more minutes than Towns giving the team a better chance at winning in the present?

They play two entirely different positions. One does not correlate to the other.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I still don't think that's really a great comparison. In general, I think the Wolves are playing the players they think give them the best chance at winning.

How is playing Edwards more minutes than Towns giving the team a better chance at winning in the present?

I get the lack of options behind Edwards... and Reid being serviceable behind Towns. I get that Beasley's suspension screws things up even more. But Edwards was already getting more minutes.

It's fine if Rosas truly believes more minutes for Edwards directly improves his development. His job/career is on the line largely by how Edwards turns out. And just because Wiggins failed with this approach doesn't mean Edwards will. It's a fine line. I don't know what the definitive best path to take with Edwards is.

But... all that being said... there are a host of statistics that indicate that Edwards is actively helping the Wolves lose.

That's one player though and the number one pick. Giving minutes to the number one pick would probably be expected even from teams much better than the Wolves. That's not the same as playing young players just for the sake of playing young players. It's not like the Wolves are keeping quality players on the bench.
As far as having more minutes than Towns, Towns averages more minutes. There's been a few games lately that Town's has been in foul trouble and/or the games have been blowouts which would lead to having Towns with reduced minutes.

Ok.

Just for the record... Towns has been back for 11 games. Edwards has played more minutes than Towns in 7 of those games... ... including close games when Towns wasn't in foul trouble, while Towns has played more minutes in only 2 of them.

Maybe they're easing Towns back. Maybe as a star player, Towns is dictating that he sticks around 32 mpg... I dunno. Many factors could be at play that we don't know.

But bottom line — it's a verifiable fact that Edwards has received at least 31 minutes in every game sans one this month and has averaged more than Towns or anybody else.




If it's for development reasons... cool. That's a defensible angle. Edwards is talented and the future.
But there's no statistical support to suggest it's because it's given the Timberwolves "the best chance to win" these games.

[Merc_Porto]

I don't know if I agree with the tanking notion either, I think it's really stupid to be tanking at this point. Rosas' job is on the line, I don't think he is getting fired this season but if this team continues to be miserable, and then we find up giving away the 3-4th pick and are still bad next season, it's over. I don't think he would tank and risk his career over trying to get lucky with a draft pick unless he thinks that's the only way he can improve this team and thus, save his job.

If we end up as the worst team in the NBA and that pick ends up to be out of the top-3 Rosas should be fired immediately. Or if he has some pride he should quit.

In a scenario like this and it would be official that Rosas made one of the worst trades in NBA history.

He should pray for those ping pong balls to be in his favor.

[Baseline81]

If we end up as the worst team in the NBA and that pick ends up to be out of the top-3 Rosas should be fired immediately. Or if he has some pride he should quit.

In a scenario like this and it would be official that Rosas made one of the worst trades in NBA history.

He should pray for those ping pong balls to be in his favor.

Regardless of the odds, it will be a catastrophe to lose the pick -- because of the season fans have had to witness. Rosas should be buttering up Silver or bribing whomever needs it in order to retain the pick.

[Neeva]

Maybe I am too much of a conspiracy theorist but somehow this keeps Golden state relevant till Curry is done -adding and rebuilding wiggins and then trading for Towns who is a perfect fit for their offense while the wolves rebuild under new ownership with Ant, Cunningham(or Suggs) and Bates( or Chet).. win win for everyone?