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Wolveswin wrote:Too many in this thread speak of Edwards as if he is fully baked. He is 22. But a raw 22yo basketball player. Do we not all remember the draft, he was talking maybe he would be a better football player? I mean, kid is about to be #1 overall in NBA draft and he thinks a whole different sport might be his calling.

Now that he seems to embrace he is legit NBA star with superstar in his sights - he is ascending fast. He is taking this raw superstar talent and making himself a superstar basketball player.

It's hard to speculate about long-term potential with younger players. There are simply too many unknowns. But we can usually make pretty good assumptions after about four years... IF... those players keep showing signs of improvement.

Edwards has shown legit, tangible improvement every season. Heck, he's shown mid-season growth multiple times... most famously as a rookie when he went from one of the worst high-minute players in the league to a much more efficient 20+ ppg guy about halfway through.

Now, he's making passes that he was either unable (or unwilling) to make seem more and more routine. The constant improvement in his game is what should excite Timberwolves/Edwards fans the most. There's no reason to think it's going to stop at age 22.

AleksandarN wrote:

Tor_Raps wrote:Has a chance at being a better than D Wade, which is crazy. He's only 22 man.

And no, not the Cavs Dean Wade lol.

D Wade had a chance at being a better than D Wade. Injuries stopped him unfortunately.

Exactly why I said that... Wade's prime was only like 6 years before he fell off due to injuries. Edwards has a chance to keep build on that if he can remain healthy.

Edwards barely had diff stats from last season to this season. To me that shows there’s not that much more to to. He’s great and a superstar but he doesn’t have that Kobe Jordan Wade potential in my opinion.

moderndarwin wrote:Edwards barely had diff stats from last season to this season. To me that shows there’s not that much more to to. He’s great and a superstar but he doesn’t have that Kobe Jordan Wade potential in my opinion.

lol that's why you can't just go by box score. Ant's scoring is lot more versatile this season..his playmaking also improved a ton this season

foobar24 wrote:First time watching him in game 3 playoffs against the Suns, after much hype I have randomly read online.

His running mechanics, ie. running strides and first-step quickness, reminds me of Jordan. I had read a comment that critiqued his skills as very raw, which I agree.

His game currently reminds me of Dwayne Wade though; I could see his career trajectory similar to Wade.

Is this a fair assessment?

I don't feel like he has the handles, floor game, or agility of Wade or Jordan.

But he's still devastating, especially in today's league. I'd say he reminds me of like a Filty Rich Man's RIcky Davis.

One_and_Done wrote:He's shaping up to be a better version of Kobe. Still not a top 5 player, but he might get there.

Hilarious.

moderndarwin wrote:Edwards barely had diff stats from last season to this season. To me that shows there’s not that much more to to. He’s great and a superstar but he doesn’t have that Kobe Jordan Wade potential in my opinion.

It depends what you're looking at.

Edwards averaged 2 more points per 36 minutes... without an efficiency hit.
He averaged one more FTA... and improved from 76% to 84% from the line.
His assists have gone from 3.3 as a rookie to 4.0 to 4.4 to 5.3 this season per 36 minutes.
His PER is +2.3 from last season.
VORP went from +2.1 to +3.7
Win Shares essentially doubled
Best ORTG and DRTG of his career

Those are all pretty clear improvements. Conversely, I don't see a single statistic that points to anything close to meaningful regression.

Tomtolbert wrote:

HMFFL wrote:

SpreeS wrote:He isn’t offensive hub like Doncic/Lebron/Jokic. More like Wade/Durant/Tatum/Kawhi attacking mode. So his potential is around 4-8th man in the league.

A 22 year old Lebron James was still finding his stroke. He was always on attack mode for the easy buckets at his size and strength compared to his opponent.

Next season will give us a much better indication of who Anthony Edwards will be. I believe this postseason is exactly what he needed and he's showcasing his talent.

I believe Edwards will be far superior to Wade, who seems to be mentioned often in this thread, but time will tell.

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That's quite a statement. There aren't many players in NBA history who I'd say were "far superior" to Wade.

Exactly. "Far superior to Wade" is basically the best player in history. lol.

Hair Jordan wrote:His trajectory is basically Kobe Bryant with an inferior offensive game. In short, a homeless man’s Kobe or a Neanderthals man Jordan.

Lots of revisionist history on Kobe's offensive game. Some people labeled him as a chucker in his prime.

Kobe was clearly better at 22 than Ant currently is. He is definitely not on pace to be Kobe.

Bank Shot wrote:Kobe was clearly better at 22 than Ant currently is. He is definitely not on pace to be Kobe.

Based on what, exactly?

One_and_Done wrote:He's shaping up to be a better version of Kobe. Still not a top 5 player, but he might get there.

No way. AE is a fine player but I don’t see the killer instinct that Kobe and Jordan had.

You’re underrating Kobe with “not top 5” too.

nzd07 wrote:

Bank Shot wrote:Kobe was clearly better at 22 than Ant currently is. He is definitely not on pace to be Kobe.

Based on what, exactly?

Better defender, more efficient for his era, better box score numbers, better advanced numbers (BPM/VORP/WS). Kobe also had a couple of massive playoff series in 2001 that Ant is unlikely to match. Against the 6 SRS Kings he dropped 35/9/4 on 59 TS% (league average was 51.8% that year) and against the 8 SRS Spurs he averaged 33/7/7 on 57 TS%.

nzd07 wrote:

Hair Jordan wrote:His trajectory is basically Kobe Bryant with an inferior offensive game. In short, a homeless man’s Kobe or a Neanderthals man Jordan.

Lots of revisionist history on Kobe's offensive game. Some people labeled him as a chucker in his prime.

You mean ignorant morons?

Thaddy wrote:Him, Paulo, and Barnes will compete on who the next best perimeter player in the league will be.

Luka Doncic and SGA say hi

nzd07 wrote:

Bank Shot wrote:Kobe was clearly better at 22 than Ant currently is. He is definitely not on pace to be Kobe.

Based on what, exactly?

Based on 22 year old Kobe already being a top 3-5 player in the world and the best perimeter player in the league? And he was as good as anybody in the league in the postseason. Ant is nowhere near that lol. The disrespect is wild.

He needs a couple of things to take the next step.

1. A real go to move, he has yet to find a set of moves that are absolute money but he is getting there, for example his bank shot has come a long way this year.

2. He needs to get to the line more. He is attacking much more now but he has yet to get the calls at a really high rate. Once he starts getting more respect there he will be a true monster. He's already putting up big scoring number but he could add 8-12 free throw points on top of that.

Bank Shot wrote:

nzd07 wrote:

Bank Shot wrote:Kobe was clearly better at 22 than Ant currently is. He is definitely not on pace to be Kobe.

Based on what, exactly?

Better defender, more efficient for his era, better box score numbers, better advanced numbers (BPM/VORP/WS). Kobe also had a couple of massive playoff series in 2001 that Ant is unlikely to match. Against the 6 SRS Kings he dropped 35/9/4 on 59 TS% (league average was 51.8% that year) and against the 8 SRS Spurs he averaged 33/7/7 on 57 TS%.

Kobe at 22 had a 55% TS%.

Edwards at 22 has a 58% TS%.

Kobe was not as efficient as Edwards at 22.

He was a better defender, or more widely regarded, at 22. Awards say so.

thinktank wrote:

Bank Shot wrote:

nzd07 wrote:
Based on what, exactly?

Better defender, more efficient for his era, better box score numbers, better advanced numbers (BPM/VORP/WS). Kobe also had a couple of massive playoff series in 2001 that Ant is unlikely to match. Against the 6 SRS Kings he dropped 35/9/4 on 59 TS% (league average was 51.8% that year) and against the 8 SRS Spurs he averaged 33/7/7 on 57 TS%.

Kobe at 22 had a 55% TS%.

Edwards at 22 has a 58% TS%.

Kobe was not as efficient as Edwards at 22.

Not sure he was a better defender either, tbh. That came later for Kobe, as I recall.

Compared to the rest of the league he was. Kobe TS% was 3.4% better than the league average. Ant's was -0.5% below.

And Kobe's defensive prime came during the three-peat. He was pretty damn elite in his early 20s on that end. Made the first All-D team at 21.

Bank Shot wrote:

thinktank wrote:

Bank Shot wrote:
Better defender, more efficient for his era, better box score numbers, better advanced numbers (BPM/VORP/WS). Kobe also had a couple of massive playoff series in 2001 that Ant is unlikely to match. Against the 6 SRS Kings he dropped 35/9/4 on 59 TS% (league average was 51.8% that year) and against the 8 SRS Spurs he averaged 33/7/7 on 57 TS%.

Kobe at 22 had a 55% TS%.

Edwards at 22 has a 58% TS%.

Kobe was not as efficient as Edwards at 22.

Not sure he was a better defender either, tbh. That came later for Kobe, as I recall.

Compared to the rest of the league he was. Kobe TS% was 3.4% better than the league average. Ant's was -0.5% below.

And Kobe's defensive prime came during the three-peat. He was pretty damn elite in his early 20s on that end. Made the first All-D team at 21.

Shooting guards, not league average, is what would matter. Not sure where you’re seeing Ant is below league average TS%. That’s wild.