It won’t be easy for Anthony Edwards, tasked with leading the Minnesota Timberwolves’ rise from Division II nationals to a team to reckon with in the Western Conference. He wouldn’t want it any other way.
When he agreed to the terms of the designated starter’s five-year extension that could be worth up to $260 million, Edwards told a franchise that had been largely unrelated for three decades to put all that history of dysfunction and loss on his shoulders, to allow him to carry this weight and takes the Timberwolves to new heights.
So many have come and gone to Minnesota, each so sure he’ll be the one to stop the cycle of disappointment and play so well, coach so good, sit so well that people are starting to look at the Timberwolves in a whole new light. None of them could do what Steve Curry did for Golden State, what Giannis Antetokounmpo did for Milwaukee, even what Chris Paul once did in transforming the Clippers from a team synonymous with defeat into a permanent playoff entrant.
There is a bit of history on Edwards’ Minnesota side. Crutches like tradition and culture are not here to support it. In this way, it was fitting for the Timberwolves to be named the #1 overall pick in 2020 because Edwards has been choosing the path least traveled his entire life.
As a stellar athlete growing up in Atlanta, Edwards could ride the AAU train on the Nike EYBL circuit. Instead, he joined the lesser-known Under Armor program and made a name for himself. In high school he reclassified and was one of the youngest members of the class of 2019 when he could have stayed put and was one of the oldest members of the class of 2020. When all the major universities came to recruit him as one of the best prep players in the country, Edwards chose Georgia, a school football with a bit of a Hoops pedigree, on Kentucky and other blue basketball factories.
Now here he is in Minnesota, playing for a team that has made it out of the first round of the playoffs once in its 34 seasons of existence. Edwards is well aware of the history that has served as an anvil chained to the neck of the organization. Executives, coaches, and players all walked through this revolving door at the entrance to Target Center. Most of them left almost as quickly as they arrived, unable to turn the tide of a team that never seems to be able to get out of its own way.
In his earlier days at Minnesota, Edwards had discussed the team’s reputation with his manager, Justin Holland. Many of those who came here either escaped from the difficulty or suffocated from it. For Edwards and Holland, they felt right at home.
“It goes with the Anthony Edwards story,” Holland said. the athlete in 2021. “He’s always built his own lane. Why not do the same here and change this franchise around and be one of the guys who can really cement his name in the history books? He wants to be legendary.”
This contract represents the next step on this path. In three seasons with Wolves, Edwards has already cemented himself as one of the game’s most exciting and energetic young players, a 21-year-old with the hunger and humanity to instill some hope in a franchise that has often lost it all.
Averaging 21.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and making 35 percent on his three-pointers, Edwards quickly established himself as a devastating offensive player who could run him defensively when the moment called for it. His stats have steadily improved year after year, from 19.3 points per game as a junior to 21.3 and then 24.6 last season. His assists rose from 2.9 to 3.8 to 4.4 per game, and his rebounds rose from 4.7 to 4.8 to 5.8.
Faith is belief without evidence, but the playoffs showed that Edwards is worth more than just believing he can do it. In two playoff games, Edwards was the one who struck fear into the hearts of his opponents. Although he was 20 in 2022 against Memphis and 21 last season against Denver, it was Edwards who appeared to be the most prepared for this moment, more combative and more confident of his Wolves affiliation. In 11 career playoff games, Edwards averaged 28.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists and hit 38-of-3 percent on nearly 10 attempts per game.
More than any statistical advance, Edwards’ charismatic personality and eagerness for the moment has convinced Wolves that he is ready for the responsibility that comes with that kind of money. League sources said the deal is for a full five years with no player option the athlete.
“He has a special quality that we talked about,” said coach Chris Finch. “He’s not afraid of those moments in this time. You see what they’re made of. They can be ashamed of them. He certainly doesn’t.”
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Edwards enjoyed the teasing he received from the kids in Memphis and was defiant in the face of near certain defeat when falling behind 3-0 to Denver. He knows that legacies are not defined by the fantastic adventures that called the counts, but had to be perfectly calculated or the colorful encounters in which he calls himself Black Jesus. He knows no amount of money in the contract, no role in the movie or the way shoes are painted can top the achievement it would be of turning the Timberwolves into winners. That’s what he wants, come to hell or high water.
“You can’t be a young star and keep bringing him home,” Edwards said during the playoff series loss to Denver.
Expectations are not new to him. He was drafted first overall in 2020 but came to a team riddled with injuries and searching for identity. He would say regularly during his junior and sophomore seasons that his status did not automatically give him leadership powers. Edwards often flirted with Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell, saying it was their team because they were veterans who made all-star appearances on their resumes.
The way he’s carried himself the past three seasons, an All-Star berth in 2023, playoff bids and now this contract serves to put Edwards on par or above anyone who walks through the doors at Timberwolves headquarters. If he makes the All-NBA Team next season, he’ll cash in as high as possible, pushing his contract package higher than any single deal offered in franchise history.
More importantly, Edwards is showing signs of becoming a true leader, too. He grew more and more vocal as this past season progressed, particularly in the playoffs when it came to asking teammates to stand out. He’s been spending more time practicing at Minnesota this summer than he has in the previous two seasons, setting a tone of expectation for his teammates. He will also play for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup and will see him be one of the faces of this entity in the not too distant future.
“I think every decision we make moving forward will be of the utmost importance,” Tim Connelly, president of Basketball Operations, said in April.
The most heartening part about this Edwards-centric version of the Timberwolves is that he doesn’t have to go it alone. Towns is entering his ninth season in Minnesota. Even though he’s coming off an injury-plagued year, he’s still one of the best offensive players in the league, an All-Star caliber big man, who’s been shooting open fairways for Edwards to get to the hole. The two are about to enter their fourth season together, complementing each other on the field and getting along well in the locker room.
Rudi Gobert will enter his second season with Wolves. His first period was an adjustment period for everyone involved and he wasn’t quite up to the standards he set for himself, but he remains a true defensive deterrent at the edge to boost Edwards’ aggressiveness on defense at the perimeter.
Edwards’ teammate Jaden McDaniels emerged last season as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and has improved his offensive game so much that he’s expected to get a major extension this summer as well.
Mike Conley reached the trade deadline and was exactly what Edwards needed from a point guard, first pass facilitator on offense, screen avoider on defense and wise locker room mentor, there to offer him encouragement and criticism. A precocious young star who matures after every game.
“The Ant is a hell of a player. I feel that,” Towns said after Wolves were eliminated. “We have everything we need. We just have to keep working with each other.”
And yes, the plan going forward, team sources said, is to keep that foundation together.
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Edwards confides in Finch, who praises Edwards for allowing him to train him hard, as the best stars always do. Finch and Connelly provide the organization with stability in leadership positions for the first time in Edwards’ young career. If you remove Tom Thibodeau’s two years as coach and team president, this is the first time the Wolves have had the same CEO and head coach for two consecutive seasons since David Kahn and Rick Adelman in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
So it should not be seen as a coincidence that the wood wolves are starting to show some signs of competence. They made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-03 and 2003-04. The cast of talent on the roster, though inappropriate at times, showed strong chemistry, and now it seems they have the galvanization they’ve long needed.
“He was always the alpha dog,” said Drew Banks, a family friend who took Edwards in during high school. the athlete in 2021. “People just want to hang out with him. Even when he’s young and traveling to youth games, he’ll ride in front of him and control the radio. It’s him.”
There are plenty of signs that Edwards is getting older before our eyes. Where he was once just a happy-go-lucky kid rating the quality of fast-food fries at post-game news conferences during his rookie season spent playing in pandemic-empty arenas, he’s developing into a young man who takes this game, and this business, more seriously.
Edwards joined WME Sports and its agent Bill Duffy this summer in a move that also included plans to expand his business dealings off the court, particularly with Three Fifths Media, a production company he launched with Holland in 2019.
Many have tried to make the Timberwolves a winner. Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Rick Adelman, Thibodeau, Andrew Wiggins, Zach Lavin, Jimmy Butler, Gerson Rosas, Townes. For reasons as varied as the names, it never really worked.
Now it’s Edwards’ turn. There are countless questions about where the Timberwolves fit in these days. There is great doubt about the KAT-Gobert pairing. The teams around them in the standings have improved greatly. There is no track record for them to draw on. They’re trying to go somewhere they’ve never been in a conference that’s getting better.
The well-worn track didn’t interest Edwards much. Before him lay a bramble-covered gauntlet waiting to be torn to shreds. Armed with this new contract, an ever-evolving understanding of the league and the full support of an organization that desperately needs it, Anthony Edwards steps up.
(Top photo by Anthony Edwards: Matt Crone/USA Today)