Can Timberwolves Anthony Edwards push for NBA MVP this year?
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves clearly understand just how rare and unique 22-year-old All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards is in the NBA. Over his first three NBA seasons, he continues to develop and improve all aspects of his game. He is clearly the bell cow for the Minnesota Timberwolves from this point in time going forward. Yet, he has so much more to offer over the course of his NBA career.
🇺🇸 x 🐺 pic.twitter.com/lTKzuFRbvT
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) August 25, 2023
Is Anthony Edward an elite player in the NBA now? Yes. But there are NBA elite players, and then there are elite NBA elite players. To reach that next level, the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard will need to show much more improvement in his game across the board.
And yet, that appears to be exactly what he is demonstrating right now:
All the talk about Anthony Edwards this week has seemed to be about his scoring in the 4th quarter — which was great. But watching that 4th back, what stood out to me was what Ant did on the possessions Team USA *didn’t* score
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) August 23, 2023
I think this might be the best quarter of his career https://t.co/qxtCfQY5dP pic.twitter.com/YfgfaoZVTX
Okay, so the buzz is out. Anthony Edwards is 22 years old and he is already getting praise heaped upon him from everywhere. But this may be the most precarious trek of his NBA career. It’s all well and good when you know how good you are, and you push yourself each day to prove that to the world.
But right now, the entire world is sitting up and taking notice. Does Anthony Edwards have such a competitive spirit that his fire does not burn to prove himself to the world, but to be a better version of himself?
“The best player on the Team USA team is clearly Anthony Edwards. He’s going to the Olympics too… I’ve been hearing all this sh*t about ‘B-Team’… This is a pure indication of how much talent [the USA] has.”
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 30, 2023
— Theo Pinson
(via @TidalLeague)pic.twitter.com/94pxO0hJ6N
So what would it take for Anthony Edwards to become an NBA MVP? Well, he’s not there yet. It takes a player who can dominate in multiple major measured statistics. Those are Points Per Game, Rebounds Per Game, and Assists Per Game. Showing up well in Steals Per Game and Blocks Per Game helps the case for NBA MVP honors as well.
Right now, Anthony Edwards’ 2022-23 performance is as follows:
24.6 PPG | 5.8 RPG | 4.4 APG | 1.6 SPG | 0.7 BPG
That is a great start. But the past five NBA MVPs have averaged:
28.7 PPG | 12.1 RPG | 6.4 APG | 1.2 SPG | 1.1 BPG
So you can see not only must Edwards improve his ability to score, but he will need to dramatically improve either his assists or his rebounding skills. The last shoot guard to earn NBA MVP honors was James Harden in the 2017-18 NBA season, and his numbers for that year were as follows:
30.4 PPG | 5.4 RPG | 8.8 APG | 1.8 SPG | 0.7 BPG
As you can see, Edwards will need to be a better facilitator or rebounder to get noticed for any NBA MVP discussions.
Must Read. 9 players the Minnesota Timberwolves gave up on too soon. light
But he is already leveling up on the international stage as you read this. And he has a knack for getting better with each game of each season. Is Anthony Edwards due for NBA MVP discussions this year? Perhaps not. But I would not be the least bit surprised if his numbers put him into those discussions in the 2024-25 NBA season.