Et tu, PatBev? Timberwolves Anthony Edwards leads NBA to Target Ctr

The hottest topic among NBA circles right now is how everyone is chatting up Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards. His performance on the international stage is lighting up the world of basketball. Or, perhaps more accurately, his performance on the international stage is lighting up basketball for the world.

He is the toast of the NBA. A young player who has Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr showering him with praises.  We’ve even gotten on board the hype train, as we have tossed the 22-year-old shooting guard’s name into the ring for consideration of NBA MVP in the future.

Scandalous!  Preposterous!

But for every parade, there is someone who is more than happy to rain on that parade. And as it happens, that stormcloud is in the form of former Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Patrick Beverley,  a veteran who will compete for the Philadelphia 76ers, his sixth NBA team in 12 NBA seasons.

PatBev predicts Ant-Man moving on from Minnesota

And so, when the topic of Anthony Edwards arose, Patrick Beverley stated this:

Is he correct? For that to be true, one of two things must happen. Either:

A – The Minnesota Timberwolves will not value Anthony Edwards as much as Anthony Edwards values himself, OR
B – Anthony Edwards will no longer believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves are capable of building a team that can compete for an NBA Championship around him

While I respect the willingness of former Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley to weigh in on a very hot NBA topic and name at the peak of Anthony Edwards’s current NBA and international popularity, if he was that good at predicting the future, I would think that he would be investing his money in stocks or cryptocurrencies, and not speculating about the future of a former teammate.

Let’s slow this down a bit and reflect on what was said, and why.

Everything is a nail to a hammer

Minnesota Timberwolves know and appreciate the value of a no-nonsense firey trash-talking NBA point guard, and Patrick Beverley is acting president of that category of NBA player. After playing a long chapter with the Houston Rockets (five seasons) and with the LA Clippers (four seasons), he is about to compete for his fifth NBA team in two years:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves
2. Utah Jazz (no games played before being traded)
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Philadelphia 76ers

While he was once a player who seemed to be a longer-term solution to fill a need on an NBA roster, it’s clear that once the Timberwolves traded him to the Utah Jazz as part of the package to acquire Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert, Beverley has become more of a roster rental. And from his lens on the world, every NBA player who is valued by the NBA is going to view the Minnesota Timberwolves as a team worthy of no more than a four to five-year chapter.

Timberwolves roster retooled around Anthony Edwards

Almost immediately upon his arrival, Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly retooled the Minnesota Timberwolves roster. While the first trade was a bit of a blockbuster, it was a necessary action to raise the stakes and the upside of the Timberwolves team’s trajectory.

What it did was transform a Timberwolves team that struggled just to make the NBA Playoffs, into a Timberwolves team that is expected to make and advance into the NBA Playoffs. While many are quick to point to the Timberwolves final record of 42-40 in the 2022-23 NBA season, they are quick to gloss over the fact that the Timberwolves only benefitted from 1/3rd of a season from Karl-Antony Towns and still competed in the NBA Playoffs.

The team that struggled to win anything, the team that veteran Patrick Beverley once played for. Now the team is much more competitive and is led by a tough-as-nails shooting guard Anthony Edwards. And the Minnesota Timberwolves truly recognize just how special Edwards is.

Truth be told, it’s only now that the NBA, and the world at large, are starting to realize what the Timberwolves have known all along.

Small-market NBA teams can flourish too

Even now, Patrick Beverley views the Minnesota Timberwolves as a team that cannot compete for NBA hardware for the trophy case. And before the Timberwolves hired President Connelly, that may have been true. But the Denver Nuggets just won their first NBA Championship and did so largely based on the personnel decisions made by Connelly.

But they are not the Timberwolves. And in PatBev’s view, the Timberwolves will never be that team. When he was outright released by the Lakers last season, he did not sign with the Timberwolves. Rather, he signed with the Chicago Bulls. If he saw a competitive advantage in signing with the Timberwolves, he would have returned.

But that is not how everyone sees the Minnesota Timberwolves, or small-market teams in the NBA for that matter. The Minnesota Timberwolves own All-Star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns is returning for his ninth NBA season. And despite all of the NBA Rumors that suggest he will be traded, he continues to reiterate his desire to play out his NBA career with the Timberwolves.  But he is not unique to small market teams.

Small-market teams’ magic is unmatched

The Portland Trail Blazers have enjoyed the play of PG Damian Lillard, whose current ‘trade me,’ demands have risen out of the fact that he wants the Trail Blazers to invest in veterans who can compete for an NBA Championship now.

So too have the Milwaukee Bucks benefitted from the long-term loyalty of Giannis Antetokounmpo, a.k.a. the Greek Freak. Giannis is entering his 11th season for the Milwaukee Bucks, with no end in sight.

Even former Minnesota Timberwolves PF Kevin Garnett reluctantly agreed to be traded away from the Minnesota Timberwolves after the Timberwolves concluded that his age was becoming more of a factor in his performance than it really was.

The reality is that some players do not leave small-market teams because they appreciate the fervent passion that NBA fans from small-market teams profess to their players. To fully appreciate the difference, a large-market team is like living in a large hotel. It’s big, it’s full of activities, and people come and go all the time at all hours of the day.

But a small-market team is like living in a big house with a backyard pool and barbecue. It’s family style comfort, and teammates and coaches become part of those family circles.