Anthony Edwards' raw scoring numbers have gone up each year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his rookie season, he averaged 19.3 points per game. Fast-forward to last season, his sixth year, he averaged 28.8 points per game. That was good for third in the league, only behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.
This season, though, with a roster tailored to his play style, Edwards should be in line to eclipse the 30+ points-per-game mark for the first time in his career. He may even have a puncher's chance at the scoring title.
Some people think the additions of LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga will take away from Edwards' shooting volume, but I believe the opposite. Ball will be getting Edwards involved off the ball with a ton of catch-and-shoot looks from 3-point range, and Kuminga will provide mostly connective traits instead of ball dominance.
Anthony Edwards gets to go back to his natural position
For the past two years, Edwards has needed to play slightly out of position out of pure team necessity. While it has always said 'shooting guard' next to his name on rosters and depth charts, he was often tasked with a lot of point guard responsibilities, like initiating the offense and getting others involved.
Now, he has someone to do that for him. He can go back to what he does best and focus almost purely on being the world's best three-level scorer with elite defensive traits. Being the de facto point guard for the past couple of years has caused some slippage, mostly on defense for Edwards, due to the workload he's needed to endure on offense.
Now, with Ball manning the point guard duties, Edwards can go back to being a fearsome perimeter defender, especially in isolation. He'll probably never make all-defensive teams due to year-long consistency, but in a one-on-one situation on defense, I don't know if there are five better guys than a locked-in version of Anthony Edwards.
He will get a lot more off-ball looks
A lot of people focus on the poster dunks and otherworldly athleticism when it comes to Anthony Edwards, but what is somehow still an underrated part of his game is his shooting. He is genuinely a top-three shooter in the entire NBA.
Last season, he shot an absurd 49.6 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. The problem was that he didn't shoot enough of them, averaging just 2.3 C&S 3s per game, because the ball was in his hands so much that nobody was able to set them up for him.
Lamelo is one of the best passers in the NBA. Kon Knueppel led the league in 3-pointers made as a rookie last year, playing next to him, so I don't even need to say what the potential is that Edwards could have.
Between getting more open shots, being double-teamed less, having more space to work with on offense, and having less of a workload, I think Anthony Edwards is set up perfectly for potentially the first NBA scoring title in Timberwolves franchise history.
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