Timberwolves: Can Anthony Edwards take leap into superstardom?

Physical Traits

Anthony Edwards is built like a football player (not height-wise) at 6-foot-4 225-pounds. His broad stocky shoulders give him a brute strength advantage compared to most players that guard him. He uses this strength to attack defenders as they cannot knock him off his path when attacking the basket. When you combine his physical strength with his insane leaping ability, you have a problem.

Edwards is a different type of leaper with a reported 41-inch vertical (league average is 28 inches). With an off-the-charts bounce and a super long wingspan (6’10),  Edwards boasts a high success rate on highlight reel poster dunks. He can dunk right through defenders or over the top of them.

No one can forget when Edwards pummeled Miami Heat guard Gabe Vincent in late November last season. The dunk was ultimately called a charge, but the play was a wake-up call to the rest of the league; stop jumping with this guy! (or trying to draw charges against him).

His true breakout highlight reel moment came against the Toronto Raptors a few days after Valentine’s Day in 2021 when he went face-to-face at the rim with Yuta Watanabe. This was arguably one of the greatest dunks in league history. Edwards maximizes his hurdle-like jumping ability with blazing speed.

Edwards has one of the best first steps. It’s so quick and as soon as defenders bite on a jap step, he’s blowing by them to get straight to his spots. Edwards is great at attacking a defender’s top foot and folding them like a pretzel when they try to predict his moves. With a running back build an electric bounce, Anthony Edwards is a freak of nature athletically, but the 20-year-old potential scoring champ has so much more to offer with his overall skillset.