Kyrie Irving. Ja Morant. Dejounte Murray. These are all former All-Star point guards that could potentially be on the trade market this offseason.
With the Minnesota Timberwolves having Tim Connelly as president of basketball operations, he has certainly proved himself not to shy away from a blockbuster trade. If the respective teams of those three lead guards do make those players available, you can be sure that Connelly will at least make a phone call.
Most fans would be happy to see the Wolves make an upgrade at point guard. All of these guards would support Anthony Edwards in the ball handling and shot-creation departments. But landing one of them would also force him to adjust his playstyle.
Anthony Edwards will have to make adjustments with a star lead guardÂ
The Timberwolves went the majority of the season without starting a traditional point guard. Donte DiVicenzo started all 82 games with Ant-Man as his backcourt partner when he was available. Ayo Dosunmu made some starts as well when Edwards was out, but he is seen more as a combo guard.
Even starting Mike Conley the previous two years, at this stage of his career, he never necessarily needed to have the ball in his hands a lot. So Ant has been able to remain comfortable with the responsibility of having the ball.Â
Acquiring any of the aforementioned three point guards (or others I didn’t mention) would probably mean the ball is in Edwards’ hands a bit less. It would be an adjustment for the 2020 first overall pick to be playing off the ball more frequently.
Particularly if Morant is traded to Minnesota, it would also place a larger defensive responsibility on Edwards. It’s all about effort on that end for him.
We see in spurts that he can be a very good defender. It will have to be more than just spurts for the team to remain an above-average defensive club if he’s sharing the backcourt with a smaller guy like Morant. There were too many instances this year where he seemed to give a nonchalant effort on that end of the court.
I’m not saying that trading for a point guard that needs the ball in his hands can’t work for the Timberwolves. It will just be interesting to see how Edwards adjusts to having to play a different game offensively.Â
As talented as he is, I would expect there to be a period where it is a little difficult for him, but I'd also expect Ant-Man to figure it out.
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