MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards devoted much of his previous two offseasons to the U.S. national team for the World Cup and the Olympics, coming off intense runs through the NBA playoffs with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As valuable as those experiences were for his flourishing career, the time Edwards had for his own training this past summer was instrumental toward his desired development into a true MVP candidate on a legitimate title contender.
“I feel like I was able to actually work on my game,” he said.
For all he's done on the court over his first five seasons in the league, Edwards is still a 24-year-old with plenty of room to improve. As Timberwolves player development coach Chris Hines has told him often, “Greatness is boring,” a maxim seemingly tailor-made for Edwards.
“There was a lot of boring days in the gym, just working on one-dribble pull-ups,” he said. "But I think it benefits me.”
In the annual preseason survey of NBA general managers, Edwards was the runaway winner in voting for the best shooting guard in the league with a 70% share. But that doesn't mean he's the most complete player at that star-studded position.
“I think he became really addicted to the film room this offseason. His work ethic has always been great, but this summer has been a whole other level,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “I think he’s really focused on how to be more effective late in games, not just for himself but for others. His body is in unbelievable shape. It’s pretty impressive to see how quickly he has matured, not just as a player, but as a professional with his approach. He’s going to have another great year.”
The first part of his game the Wolves want advanced is on defense, where Jaden McDaniels typically plays the primary role of guarding the opponent's top scorer. Edwards, never lacking for confidence, believes he can give McDaniels a break here and there by doing the same.
“As the head of the snake, sometimes you’ve just got to take those matchups, just to show people I can play defense too,” Edwards said. “We can’t make Jaden guard the best player every night. Some nights he’s got to get the ‘B’ player, let me get the ‘A’ player. And like I said, it’s going to get me in better shape, man. It’s about trying to push myself so I can get in better shape around February and March, heading into the playoffs.”
Edwards looks leaner than he did last season, evidence of his summer conditioning in renewed pursuit of two-way stardom. He committed to getting more sleep, too, the key to physical recovery and refreshment.
“We’re trying to get back to the number one defense in the league, and I know it starts with me, especially my pressure on the ball. I can’t guard one game and not guard the next game because we’re playing, you know, somebody who’s not up to par,” Edwards said. "I’ve got to be ready every night, and I’m going to take pride in that. I told my teammates to hold me accountable, coaches included.”
At the team dinner the night before the first official practice, point guard Mike Conley led a discussion of what steps the Wolves must take on the floor and in their minds to get over the conference-final hump.
“What’s our goal? Are we coming here to put on a show, perform? Or are we trying to win a championship? What are we doing? And the consensus is, we’re trying to win a championship,” Conley said. “Ant, if you want to win a championship, we expect you to guard like you’re a top-five perimeter defender in the league, which we believe you are.”
Coach Chris Finch, asked on Tuesday for an assessment of Edwards' buy-in to the goal of even better defense than the Wolves displayed last season, said he has “no doubt” that his best player is serious about it.
“We've talked a lot about consistency and the consistency of habit as one of the areas of improvement no matter what it pertains to. Ant has got to measure up here. We might do different things with matchups that put him in more high-leverage situations, which we know he can do and he enjoys,” Finch said. “It’s an NBA mantra that if you do so much on offense, you’re allowed to not play defense. The best teams don’t do that. They do what’s necessary as much as they possibly can.”
There are plenty of finer points of playing offense that Edwards can elevate, too. He worked hard on ballhandling during the summer, a skill he acknowledged has often been skipped because of the discomfort certain drills can create on his lower back. That ought to help improve his performance in the clutch-time situations that frequently hampered the Wolves last season.
Another way he can more consistently beat double-teams is to not allow the opponents get to that point by pushing the pace and running in transition more often. Recognizing ways to keep the offense better spaced in the half-court, too, can only help. Sometimes, players as talented as Edwards also simply need to find new ways to stay motivated during the regular season.
“Try to get a career high in points," Edwards said without hesitation when asked at the team's media day how he can stay more engaged. “I think that's what I'm going to try to do.”
However he does, it doesn't matter much to the Wolves.
“Just continue to be that every-night player at a high level that we know he can be, which is what you need to do if you want to be an MVP in this league,” Finch said. "I certainly think he’s got the DNA for it, and he just has to really fully embrace it.”
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