Edwards' postgame comment reveals crucial question about Timberwolves' season

The Minnesota Timberwolves' loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday was just about as flagrant an offense as a team can commit. After losing to the much less-talented Blazers on Tuesday at Moda Center, the Timberwolves returned to the building 24 hours later and made some of the same mistakes as the night before en route to their third consecutive loss overall.

We have seen plenty of recurring issues in the early going for Minnesota this season. Adding multiple big-minutes rotation players has contributed to them being more careless with the ball and committing too many turnovers, and their transition defense continues to suffer as well. These are things that have been brought up on more than one occasion by the players.

But perhaps the most alarming issue that continues to crop up for the Timberwolves? Their fluctuating effort as a whole. There continue to be situations where it seems like if Minnesota simply locks in, they will be able to get by and pick up a win just by nature of playing hard. But they continue to fumble away these opportunities.

Timberwolves podcaster Dane Moore recorded the latest episode of his show directly after Wednesday night's loss along with his co-host, Kyle Theige. In discussing the biggest problems the team faces, Theige brought up the effort issue.

When will Minnesota have their edge back, and how can they keep it?

"It's kind of inexcusable, right?" he asked. "Rudy Gobert is someone we've always championed as, he's just not going to let them lose those games. He just got outplayed tonight by a 20 year-old." Perhaps at times, this team is trying to win simply based off talent, rather than off of playing their hardest. When you have the kind of mega-successful year that the Wolves did last season, we can understand why some on this team may have fallen into this trap at times.

Moore showed a clip on the show from the locker room during postgame media availability on Wednesday. In the video, Anthony Edwards addressed the team not playing with a chip on their shoulder. "We see what it takes, man," he said. "Everybody wants to be there, so we got to come out with a chip on our shoulder. We got to get the chip back. Whenever we get the chip back, we'll be back where we need to be."

When asked if the Wolves would have the chip when they play Sacramento on Friday, Edwards said he was pretty sure they would. As expected, he confirmed that it is not the games against big-time competition that they are not showing up. Primarily, it has been the games against inferior quality opponents where Minnesota has struggled to retain that chip on their shoulder.

Here lies the greatest question of the Timberwolves' season thus far. If we are nearly a month into the season and the Wolves do not feel the competitive edge to go all out even against the Portlands of the NBA, when will they be able to develop that chip and keep it with them no matter their opponent? The answer will determine if Minnesota will have a chance at a championship this year, or if they will become a first-round playoff exit once again.