Anthony Edwards' latest achievement proves he's on a historic trajectory

Anthony Edwards' greatness gets a ton of praise, and rightfully so. However, it's mostly in the context of the current NBA landscape, which, of course, is understandable as the Minnesota Timberwolves star has quickly established himself as a top-five-level player. What I don't think gets mentioned enough, though, is that Edwards is on an all-time great trajectory.

Thursday night should be a reminder of this, as Edwards notched 10,000 career points during a 25-point outing in a 131-122 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In doing so, the 24-year-old became just the third youngest player to reach the 10,000-point milestone, with LeBron James and Kevin Durant being the only two younger than Ant. The fourth youngest player, you might ask? Kobe Bryant, who was just 38 days older when he accomplished this feat.

This puts Edwards in rarefied air, to say the least.

Anthony Edwards is poised to be an all-time great

Of course, LeBron, who is the youngest player to reach this 10,000-point milestone, later became the all-time leader in scoring. However, it's worth noting that Durant is the eighth leading (and counting). KD is just 15 points away from passing Wilt Chamberlain and 155 points away from Dirk Nowitzki. He is even less than 1,000 points away from passing Michael Jordan. Additionally, Bryant finished as the fourth all-time leading scorer.

Overall, Edwards reaching 10,000 points this early in his career sets him up nicely to be a top-10 all-time leading scorer (or higher) when he retires. Now, the top-10 scoring leaders don't perfectly represent the top-10 players of all-time, but everyone who has reached this milestone is an all-time great and top-25 level player.

When looking at everything Edwards has accomplished during his young career, it's truly remarkable. Edwards is averaging 24.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.2 assists for his career. He has been named to an All-Star team for the past three years and an All-NBA team in the past two seasons.

However, what really makes Edwards special is his playoff experience. He averages 26.9 points in the postseason and has been the main catalyst for the Timberwolves' back-to-back conference finals. Edwards' ability to play at a higher level when the stage gets brighter is the mark of a legend. To have two deep playoff runs this early on in his career is rare, and it proves that Edwards is on a path to be an all-time great.

Edwards keeps leveling up every season, and despite his elite play, it's clear that he still isn't at the peak of his powers. Last season, Edwards became one of the league's best 3-point shooters, and this year he developed into a deadly mid-range scorer. This had led Ant to average a career-high 29.2 points.

Given his scoring prowess and possible improvements as a playmaker and defender, Ant could feel destined to become a clear top-three player at some point. To me, it feels inevitable that Edwards will win the MVP award and a championship in his career.

Ultimately, it's clear that Ant is on a historic trajectory, and he feels poised to retire as one of the best players of all-time.