While LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and a few others are still productive, they clearly are far into the back nine of their NBA careers. The NBA will continue to move on once they do decide to retire, as there is plenty of young talent set to continue making their names known for the next decade-plus. One of those is Anthony Edwards who is undoubtedly among the best players under the age of 25. He comes in as the second-best player under that age according to a FanSided panel.
Anthony Edwards comes in at second
FanSided went through the difficult exercise of ranking the top 25 players under the age of 25. Of course, Edwards found his name near the top of the list. In fact, just one player is listed above him.
Having turned 24 years old on August 5, Edwards is in the second spot for best players under the age of 25. Who is ahead of him? That would be Victor Wembanyama, who turns 22 on January 4.
Edwards is coming off a season where he led the league in 3-pointers made. In back-to-back seasons, he has finished seventh in MVP voting as well as being the best player on a conference finals team. There's no reason to think, at his young age, that Edwards won't continue to improve. His chance to do so begins on October 22 in the regular season opener against the Trail Blazers.
Case for #1
Getting ready to enter his sixth season, there’s no doubt that Edwards has experienced more team success than Wembanyama has in his two years. Yes, the Timberwolves have had a better overall roster than the Spurs. Still, Edwards is the best player on a team that has been 1 of the last 4 teams standing the past two seasons, while Wembanyama has not even experienced a Play-In Tournament game.
It also needs to be stated that Edwards is one of the more durable superstars currently. He has missed just three games each of the last three years, and just 19 in five seasons.
Wembanyama has appeared in 117 of a possible 164 outings through two years. While he certainly can’t be blamed for the deep vein thrombosis that prematurely ended his year last season, we have seen countless players his size struggle to stay healthy. Not saying it will happen with Wembanyama, and let’s hope the Defensive Player of the Year favorite has a season where he stays in the lineup.
In the end, it’s a matter of opinion which of the two you’d consider to be the best under the age of 25. (Note: Cade Cunningham finished third.) Edwards has absolutely built a case to be atop the list, though.