3 Minnesota Timberwolves who can hit NBA Top-3

III: Anthony Edwards – Scoring/steals

The Minnesota Timberwolves are counting on another year of improvement out of All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards. So far, the Timberwolves have never been disappointed. Young All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards has just turned 22 years old, but he is already an NBA All-Star. Now, he has his sights set on higher prizes.

But if the Minnesota Timberwolves are to have any chance of competing in the NBA Championship, the team will need a lot more out of Edwards. Even as the young shooting guard has improved his ability to score points steadily over the past three seasons, his 24.6 points per game average is no better than 23rd on the NBA’s scoring leaders.  To be mentioned among the NBA’s top scorers, Edwards will need to put up 32+ points per game this season. Impossible?

Anthony Edwards averaged 31.6 points per game in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

So yes, it is very doable. But it’s more than wishful thinking. If the Timberwolves are to have any chance of making noise in the 2024 NBA Playoffs this season, that is where Edwards will need to be. So that is his goal for the 2023-24 NBA season.  But there is more that Anthony Edwards can do to help the Timberwolves this season.

Anthony Edwards can cutpurse Timberwolves to success

While scoring is the statistic that seems to mesmerize NBA fans, another area of steady improvement from Anthony Edwards is his ability to pick the pockets of anyone he is defending. In fact, his 1.6 steals per game not only led the Minnesota Timberwolves roster in the 2022-23 NBA season, but it was the 10th-best among all NBA players. So what would it take to elevate his game to land in the NBA Top-3? He would need to average 2.0+ steals per game.

Once more, is that too much of an improvement to ask for this season? Well, Anthony Edwards averaged 1.8 steals per game in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. So 2.0+ steals per game seems certainly within reach.

So when we sit down and aim at a 50+ win season for the Minnesota Timberwolves, it all seems surreal and very unachievable. But if we sit down and plug in tangible goals for the three stars on the Timberwolves, it all seems very realistic and achievable.