Three Things NBA Preview: Minnesota Timberwolves
Last Night, In Basketball is an independent publication that provides in-depth analysis of what actually happens on the court — covering all 30 teams, throughout the entire season and offseason.
The website and newsletter also depend on reader support.
Purchasing a paid subscription gets you access to features like Three Things I Noticed on League Pass, weekly deep dives into topics of interest, databases for several in-house statistics, and more, while also helping cover costs for things like travel and event coverage, as well as software that provides support for Film Findings videos.
As I detailed a few weeks ago, I’m once again re-appropriating the Three Things I Noticed on League Pass format to preview the upcoming season. Instead of three things I noticed, it’ll be something more along the lines of three things I’m looking forward to, interested in, or want to see. Some of them might be narrative-based, some might be stats, and some might include video. But they'll all be focused on the 2025-26 campaign.
The schedule for those posts will be as follows (podcasts for each division with Mo Dakhil are in parentheses):
- Atlantic Division (BOS, BKN, NYK, PHI, TOR) (Podcast)
- Central Division (CHI, CLE, DET, IND, MIL)
- Southeast Division (ATL, CHA, MIA, ORL, WAS) (Podcast)
- Pacific Division (GSW, LAC, LAL, PHX, SAC) (Podcast)
- Northwest Division (DEN, MIN, OKC, POR, UTA)
- Oct. 6-10: Southwest Division (DAL, HOU, MEM, NOP, SAS) (Podcast)
So without further ado, let's get to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season, this time be the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Anthony Edwards, to the block
Here's what I wrote about Edwards after the conclusion of the Timberwolves' series against Oklahoma City:
I'm not particularly interested in the whole "Anthony Edwards wasn't ready for this and isn't the face of the league now" stuff that is probably going to be on all the talk shows today.
He ran into an opponent that people will come to see as an all-time great team, with an elite defense that entirely geared itself around making sure he, himself, could not beat them. And that defense succeeded. Eventually, though, some team or another will try to d0 that to him and it will fail.
The dude is 23 years old and is a straight-up killer. He's clearly capable of anchoring a contender. He's been in the Western Conference Finals as the best player on his team two years in a row, and he's clearly just getting started.
Does he have things to work on, that currently separate him from the very best guys in the league? Yes. But that's normal! He's like four years away from his prime.
Please, do not fret about what this series means about Anthony Edwards' stardom. You'll probably just end up looking silly.
I stand by all of that. He's going to come back this season better than ever, and with a brand new skill to put to use that will make him that much tougher to stop.
I loved hearing the reports that came out this offseason about Edwards working on a post game. (It takes lots of players in his mold until their 30s and then athleticism is fading to make a consistent move down to the block. He's at least trying to add that to the arsenal in his early-to-mid 20s. I love it.) Last year, the reporting was that he worked on becoming an elite three-point shooter, and he did just that. He led the damn NBA in threes made and attempted, going from taking 6.7 of them per game to 10.3, and he nailed 39.5% of those shots. I mean, my god. If the development of this new skill is anything like the last one, defenders are in major trouble. (Not that they weren't already.)
Edwards, with his body type, is a natural fit for becoming a post scorer in the style of wings like (yes, sorry, but it has to be said) Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and more before him. He is built like an Adonis. He is physical at the point of attack. He can shoot over anybody. He is quicker than everybody. This all makes so much sense.
Getting down to the post is also at least somewhat less physically taxing than operating from the top of the floor over and over again, where you have to hit the jets and accelerate and navigate a thicket of limbs basically every time if you want to get to the basket. From the block, it's not always like that. Oftentimes you can make one move and then suddenly be confronting the rim protector, and doing it without having quite as many arms swiping down on your dribble. Teams can load up on the post, of course, but Edwards is a good enough passer to make them pay for doing so, and you can do that while mostly stationary rather than having to get through the first layer of defense in order to draw help.
Consistently making the right decision from down there will be a challenge, just as it is for him on the drive. He's still very young, and he's not as much of a natural point guard as are some of the other best guards in the league, so he's not as well-versed in making the right shoot/pass decision every single time. He's getting there, though, and he's probably going to get all the way there eventually. It might take some time, but continuing to get more versatile in the ways that he can attack defenses will only help.
