Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards vs. LaMelo Ball

Long-term outlook for Ball and Edwards

LaMelo Ball is probably going to win rookie of the year. But that award doesn’t matter with regard to long-term outlook. The Timberwolves selected Edwards with the intention of him becoming the third star on a team that already has Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell.

And Anthony Edwards could very well live up to that role – he’s already on track to do exactly that. Edwards has struggled to find a way to impact meaningful basketball as a rookie. But as stated, when issues persist around him – such as a coaching change and inconsistency from *basically* the entire team, there isn’t much that can be done. Over the course of the past month, Edwards has been much better – in large part due to the return of Russell and KAT not missing much time.

If this is able to continue, he very well could be the best player from this draft class.

With LaMelo Ball, he is already a very, very good player (probably top-70-ish in the NBA when healthy). And truthfully, it is unfair to say he would have the same level of success for the Timberwolves. Charlotte was the perfect landing spot for any draft pick due to a developmentally-focused organization that eventually landed another savvy veteran (Hayward) – and Edwards arguably could be achieving the same highs as Ball in Charlotte.

It’s almost certain Ball would not be able to perform as well as he had if he were picked by Minnesota. But there is a sense that he would be a better fit and play more meaningful minutes than Edwards this season. The discussion of who the first overall pick in 2020 should have been will be contentious for a long time, but the Timberwolves could have done worse. They landed an high-upside wing, and as of right now, things look pretty good for Edwards looking forward.