The Minnesota Timberwolves have a multitude of options for the top pick. Anthony Edwards should not be one of them.
After winning the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, the Minnesota Timberwolves are left with a difficult choice: what should they do with the first-overall pick in the draft?
This is a draft with no clear number-one prospect, though most draft experts would agree that the top tier prospects in this draft consists of three players: James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball, and Anthony Edwards.
Along with choosing from one of these prospects, the Timberwolves also have the option to trade the pick, which Gersson Rosas has not ruled out.
Given the presence of Karl-Anthony Towns at the center position for the Wolves, most mock drafts have decided that the Wolves won’t be taking Wiseman with the top pick, leaving Ball and Edwards as the most likely candidates to be selected number-one overall.
Though neither would exactly be a perfect fit in the Wolves system, Anthony Edwards would be a particularly bad fit for the Wolves.
Shooting
First, Edwards was an inconsistent outside shooter in his freshman year at Georgia, shooting just 29.4 percent from three.
For the Wolves offense to effectively play through D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves need to find consistent shooters at the other three spots. This allows the Wolves offense to spread the floor, giving D’Lo the option to create a shot for himself or to dish off of a pick-and-roll with KAT.
Edwards has not shown the ability to shoot consistently or to play effectively off-ball, which could create problems for in Ryan Saunders’ offense similar to the problems created by Andrew Wiggins.
Additionally, shot selection has been a huge concern with Edwards, and that concern should be magnified by a team like the Wolves that emphasizes shot selection in their offensive scheme. Not only did Edwards struggle from three his freshman year, but he attempted 147 shots off-the-dribble last season, making just 28.5 percent of them.
Is that someone that would gel into an offense initiated by D’Angelo Russell and KAT? Is that someone that would maintain the flow of the offense and respect Ryan Saunders’ shot value philosophy?
These concerns are far too reminiscent of Andrew Wiggins, and the Timberwolves front office would be naive to overlook them.