Minnesota Timberwolves: Young Wolves players set-up for success in 2021-22

While the Minnesota Timberwolves season didn’t exactly go as planned, there is plenty of reason for optimism given the way that the season ended.

There are plenty of young players on the team that could take a step in the right direction and end up being major contributors for a young Wolves team.

Let’s take a look at three first and second-year players who could make their mark on next year’s team.

Looking ahead to Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards in 2021-22

Anthony Edwards displayed plenty of promise during his rookie season — and it was a crazy year for both the Wolves and Edwards himself.

Remember, the time between the NBA Draft and the start of the season was only about five weeks, so it isn’t as if Edwards had much time to prepare.

Additionally, Edwards didn’t have the luxury of having other star players by his side for the entirety of the season; Karl-Anthony Towns missed 22 games and D’Angelo Russell missing 30 in what was already a shortened season.

Oh, and add in a midseason coaching change halfway through the season for good measure. The change in leadership and style of coaching surely had the potential to hinder his progress, but Edwards flourished after Chris Finch took the reigns. The rookie kept improving over the course of the season and finished with a scoring average of 19.3 points per game.

Now, he will get a longer offseason to improve his game including the potential of appearing in Las Vegas Summer League, a full training camp and exhibition schedule, and, hopefully, a chance to play most of the season with the two stars of the team by his side. He’ll have a full season with Chris Finch at the helm, too, and all of those things together should only mean good things for Anthony Edwards.