Anthony Edwards was already seen as one of the game’s top talents entering the season. That is evidenced by finishes of seventh and tied for seventh in MVP voting in the past two seasons and being the top player on a team that reached back-to-back conference finals. Turning just 24 years old on August 5, though, it was reasonable to believe Ant-Man could still show growth in certain areas.
This season, Edwards has not only shown more willingness to attempt mid-range jumpers, but he’s also knocking them down at a much higher rate.
Edwards is living in the mid-range more often
The 2-point shots outside of the paint are seen by most coaches as the worst shot to attempt. The mid-range game has become somewhat of a dying art. Sure, DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler do most of their work there, but there are countless more that can be named that are known as 3-point shooters.
Edwards has decided to buck the trend this season and make the middy en vogue again. Edwards is still a high-volume 3-point shooter, but more often, when compared to last season, he has stepped inside the arc for those mid-range jumpers.
In his 33 games this season, Ant Man has attempted 11.6 percent of his field goals from 10-16 feet and 10.6 percent from 2-point range outside of 16 feet, according to Basketball Reference. He’s knocking down those attempts at a 46.1 percent and 41.4 percent rate, respectively.
Compare that to last season. It was 8.4 percent of Edwards’ attempts coming from 10-16 feet and 8.0 percent coming from 2-pointers outside of 16 feet. He made just 34.1 percent from the shorter distance and 37.2 percent from the longer.
Hit a big middy late in Sunday's win
The Minnesota Timberwolves had an excellent come-from-behind victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. While most will remember Edwards’ game-winning floater with 17 seconds left when he drove past Victor Wembanyama and scored over Luke Kornet, he had another big shot a couple of minutes earlier.
Trailing the entire game (including a 16-0 deficit to start the game), Minnesota took its first lead of the contest with 2:19 remaining. It came when Edwards took a fadeaway jumper from outside the paint over Stephon Castle to give the Timberwolves a 2-point lead at the time.
Anthony Edwards just drained a clutch jumper over Stephon Castle, calling him too small, and then drove past Victor Wembanyama for the game winning bucket.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 12, 2026
Man, Ant is elite. pic.twitter.com/YhJHe5I63x
The mid-range shot isn’t dead. As a matter of fact, Ant-Man is making it cool again. It's fun knowing as good as Edwards is, he continues to show improvements every year.
Edwards' growth as a mid-range scorer has helped him reach another level as an all-around scorer. With Edwards leveling up his play, the Wolves seem set up for another deep playoff run, and perhaps they could break through to make a finals run.