With the Minnesota Timberwolves officially striking out on LeBron James as he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, their power forward void remains as large as ever. Chris Finch has made it sound like he wants to mostly keep Jaden McDaniels at the point of attack. Notably, he said that he doesn't envision McDaniels at the four when talking to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
As such, it's unclear who the Timberwolves will use as their primary defender against opposing forwards, and this could be a major issue for the Timberwolves. Nonetheless, a recent article from Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic suggests that Anthony Edwards could fill this role.
"The Wolves may just have to be unconventional, at least in the early going. Finch said that also meant Edwards could see time guarding some of the more physically imposing power forwards in the league, like Zion Williamson or Jaren Jackson Jr."Â
The likelihood of the Timberwolves having a non-traditional forward stopper seems fairly high when also considering Tim Connelly saying that they have some left-field-ish power forward options. Maybe he was talking about Ant all along? Krawczynski's reporting makes that sound likely.Â
Krawczynski also noted that in the summer of 2022 most expected the Timberwolves to trade D'Angelo Russell, but they waited until the 2023 deadline. This indicates that the Wolves might wait until the trade deadline to fill this void.Â
The Timberwolves could look to shift Anthony Edwards up defensively
Even if the Timberwolves sign a minimum player to round out their roster, their best starting five would be LaMelo Ball, Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert. If they want to keep McDaniels at the point of attack, Edwards could certainly be their solution to guarding starting fours, at least until February.Â
Without a doubt, the Timberwolves need more from Ant on defense this upcoming season. Frankly, last season Edwards' defense was disastrous. He was inattentive off the ball, often getting back cut and showing an apathy to navigating screens. The numbers match the eye test as Minnesota's defense was 5.7 points per 100 possessions better with Ant off the court per Cleaning the Glass.Â
Make no mistake, though, Edwards is a capable defender, and thankfully, the arrival of LaMelo should give Ant more energy on this end of the floor.Â
When he's locked in, he can get up in the grill of opposing players and is one of the most athletic players in the entire NBA. Considering this along with his impressive strength at 225 pounds, Edwards should be able to hold up against opposing power forwards despite being 6-foot-4.Â
It's worth noting that he spent 34.6 percent of his time guarding opposing forwards (both small and power forwards) last season. Regardless, the proof will be in the pudding -- Edwards talked about making an All-Defensive team before last season and followed this up with arguably the worst defensive season of his career.Â
Edwards guarding opposing forwards is unlikely to be a long-term solution
It's also fair to wonder if he's the Timberwolves' true solution to defending physical power forwards. My guess would be no.Â
Sure, I can see him guarding forwards in the regular season, but eventually I think the Timberwolves will make a sizable forward addition. Meaning Edwards guarding opposing power forwards is a fun wrinkle based on the Wolves' current roster construction, rather than anything close to a long-term solution.Â
At the end of the day, the best teams have balance and have players who are naturally able to play/defend each position. The Wolves' power forward position is a glaring issue, and it's one that I expect Tim Connelly to find a more traditional forward solution to down the road.Â
Regardless, to start the season, we could see Edwards guarding bigger forwards more often -- it would be an outside-of-the-box strategy, but one that could work well enough to get the Timberwolves to the trade deadline.Â
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