Anthony Edwards is trying to replicate a crucial element of Michael Jordan's game

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has established himself as a consensus top 10 player during his five-year career. However, there's still room for the 24-year-old to improve. One of the more notable areas of improvement for Edwards is his playmaking.

Recently, ESPN's Dave McMenamin discussed how playmaking is a focus area for Edwards this offseason. He noted how Edwards' trainer, Chris Hines, is focusing on teaching Ant the history of the game. Specifically, McMenamin mentioned how Edwards' camp is having him watch playmaking film of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant to see how they read the defense. This is something that predates the offseason, but is undoubtedly still something Edwards is trying to replicate this summer.

"Chris told me that he kind of worked on teaching him [Edwards] the history of the game, McMenamin said. We know you can score, we know how great of an athlete you are, but watch these clips of Kobe [Bryant]. Watch these clips of Michael Jordan. See how they read the defense when they collapse on him late in the shot clock. We saw it pay off in the playoffs."

Trying to replicate this aspect of two all-time great players is logical for Edwards. As an athletic score-first guard, Edwards has a similar playstyle to Jordan and Kobe. Simply put, to be the best, you must learn from them.

Edwards has made strides as a playmaker but he has another level to reach

Edwards has already made strides as a playmaker over the past two seasons, averaging 4.5 assists in the regular season and 5.1 assists. According to metrics from BBall Index, Edwards is one of the most improved playmakers over the past three seasons. Regardless, it's clear Edwards has another level to reach as a playmaker.

In the first two rounds of the playoffs, Edwards showed a ton of improvement as a playmaker, averaging 5.9 assists and just 2.3 turnovers. This included a stellar first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, where he averaged 6.2 assists and 1.2 turnovers. However, Edwards took a step back in the Western Conference finals, averaging 4.6 assists and 3.2 turnovers.

Edwards struggled against the Oklahoma City Thunder's suffocating defense. He still needs to make better reads at times and hasn't perfected beating double teams. If Edwards can add this to his already elite scoring and all-around play, he could become a legit top-five player.

The raw career assist averages of Jordan (5.3) and Bryant (4.7) might not jump off the page. However, they mastered making the right reads when the defense collapsed on them, especially in their prime. As Edwards enters his true prime, it will be imperative that he develops this ability.

With Mike Conley aging, the Wolves will be giving Edwards more responsibilities as a playmaker. This will be especially true if Rob Dillingham struggles with an increased role. In the modern NBA, most elite perimeter players are counted on to initiate their teams' offense as playmakers as well as scorers, and Edwards will have to do just that.