https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/nba-logos/atl.png

Hawks

Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards has reached an exclusive list even the greatest shooter of all time Stephen Curry was not able to do early in his career.
On Saturday night, Edwards became the youngest player in NBA history to hit 800 three-pointers in their career. At just 23-years-old, Edwards' game has evolved from the time he was drafted in 2020 with his high-flying antics and rim-soaring dunks. Now in his 5th NBA season, Edwards has become a respectable shooter, and a hotshot at that as he gains more reps into his shot.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
youngest player in <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a> history to make 800 threes. that's our <a href="https://twitter.com/theantedwards_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theantedwards_</a>. 🐜🐜🐜 <a href="https://t.co/3mAzbLaGLh">pic.twitter.com/3mAzbLaGLh</a>
&mdash; Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1850634826090524699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Edwards has made it a point to shoot more threes this season. Over the Wolves&rsquo; first three games, Edwards has been 21-45 from three, shooting at a 39% clip.
Edwards has been making his threes in a variety of ways. There have been times he hits threes on the move, off the dribble, stepbacks and on some catch and shoot opportunities. This has highlighted his shotmaking and has been a main source of Minnesota&rsquo;s offense to start the year.
According to Wolves&rsquo; media Dane Moore, Edwards has more than 50% of his shots from three, something that he&rsquo;s increased this year. Last season, only 30% of his shots were from three, this year it&rsquo;s up to 58% to start the season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Through 2.5 games, Anthony Edwards has taken 60 shots, and 35 of them have been 3s. That's 58% of his shots. Last season 30% of his shots were 3s. <a href="https://t.co/FyEgJZMs8A">pic.twitter.com/FyEgJZMs8A</a>
&mdash; Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaneMooreNBA/status/1850347919251042524?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Moreover, Edwards joined Curry and Kemba Walker as the only players in NBA history to hit 5+ 3PT in three straight games to start a season, <a href="https://x.com/StatMamba/status/1850366050308690045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1850366050308690045%7Ctwgr%5E78ba9d628247b21d3ac56c3d1dadad80a8e28fd1%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnba%2Fwarriors%2Fnews%2Fanthony-edwards-makes-nba-history-joins-steph-curry-on-exclusive-list-01jb5y1c17pc">per Stat Mamba on X</a>. The 6-foot-4 guard scored his 7,000th point in their game against the Toronto Raptors.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
7,000 career points and counting. 🐜 <a href="https://t.co/Wb8oWY23Y4">pic.twitter.com/Wb8oWY23Y4</a>
&mdash; Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1850362817079062547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
Edwards has had a good start to his NBA career, and he&rsquo;s one of the young players being groomed as one of the next faces of the league.

On Saturday night, Edwards became the youngest player in NBA history to hit 800 three-pointers in their career.

Anthony Edwards makes NBA history as youngest player to hit 800 three-pointers

Team USA players came inside the Kerry Sports basketball facility one by one, each sporting their preferred and comfortable gear from the blazing heat of the Philippine weather they were not so accustomed to. They were about to hold their first practices in Manila for the FIBA World Cup 2023, the sport&rsquo;s world championship meet.
Anthony Edwards was one of the last ones to enter the gym along with fellow NBA no.1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. He had his Adidas Adilette comfort slides put on with black Team USA jogger pants and an Adidas triple-colored hoodie. Edwards was fixated on his phone, walking past whispering reporters onto the team&rsquo;s huddle at center court, clearly being the center of attraction for the young Team USA squad.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s who they call the Ant-Man.&rdquo;
Once upon a time, Edwards&rsquo; name was held in a much lower regard. The 22-year-old is considered to be one of the best and brightest young players in the league but has yet to establish himself as one of the staples and premier superstars with an iconic and deep playoff performance that cements him in that tier.
Until these playoffs.
Edwards has separated himself from the pack of young superstars leading their teams and entered the upper echelon of basketball royalty in the NBA. With the league anticipating the &lsquo;changing of the guard&rsquo; as current faces LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant eventually diminish their shining glories as the league&rsquo;s best of the best, Edwards comes in as one of the hopefuls to take the mantle when that inevitable day comes.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying that he (Edwards) is the face of the league but he hates it when I say it &ndash; but it&rsquo;s true. The future&rsquo;s so bright you gotta put the sunglasses on when you&rsquo;re walking around him,&rdquo; Karl-Anthony Towns said, in their post-game interview after their first-round series with the&nbsp;Phoenix Suns.
Edwards glanced briefly at Towns, who was beside him at the podium. He had that little smile on his face while bowing down his head as his teammate praised him in front of the listening reporters. He looked at Towns again, this time shaking his head in disbelief, but it had the element of confidence. There was obviously a focus on what Towns was talking about but with Edwards&rsquo; elite level-headedness through it all.&nbsp;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a young superstar in the league and you have to face it,&rdquo; the statement emphasized on Edwards as he&rsquo;s trying to soak it all in.
Ever since Edwards has been adamant about not calling himself anything until he wins in the playoffs. Now that his Wolves beat the Suns to win the franchise&rsquo;s first playoff series since 2004, Edwards certainly has all the right in the world to give himself even the tiniest bit of praise.
He thought for a good three seconds, glancing at the reporter and the horizon for a moment. He was just asked if he was now able to give himself some grace in that regard when people call him that &lsquo;young superstar&rsquo; label. A small grin emerged onto his face, clearly oozing with confidence albeit a controlled one. He looked back with that smile on his face while nodding, he said:
&ldquo;Nah, not yet a man. Not yet.&rdquo;
Behind this usual brash, confident, and charismatic Edwards is a hungry side that never gets contented and satisfied until he achieves his ultimate goal: winning a championship. Maybe he&rsquo;ll have the guts to call himself one when they reach the Finals and end up going all the way. But that remains to be seen.
He&rsquo;s got the swagger, the personality, and the charisma to be marketable by the league. Edwards mentioned wanting to go kill everybody that&rsquo;s in front of him, and boy, he did.&nbsp;
Edwards swept the Suns featuring his childhood idol and favorite player of all time Kevin Durant, who he has been jawing back and forth at several times in the series. This was him going at his childhood hero, taking on the challenge and never backing down. However, the play of the series happened in Game 4 when Minnesota was trying to put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.&nbsp;
With 2:18 left on the clock in the 4th quarter, Edwards blew by Beal and rose through the air as high as he could. Durant made the right business decision by not going up together with a rampaging bull as he should For a brief moment, he looked like the second coming of a certain Michael Jordan &ndash; yet again &ndash; after he&rsquo;s been labeled as such throughout the course of the season after each jaw-dropping spectacular play. Edwards threw down a ferocious poster slam dunk that might have literally blown the roof over the Footprint Center as the play signaled the beginning of the end for the Suns.
Durant and Edwards will play together in Team USA in August for the Paris Olympics, and these two for sure would go head to head making their practice sessions much more interesting. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a good feeling because he&rsquo;s my favorite player of all time, and I can tell him that I was the one who sent him home. It&rsquo;s gonna be a fun summer for sure,&rdquo; Edwards said.
First game of the Western Conference Finals and up against the Nuggets, Edwards scored a playoff career-high 43 points. He dissected their entire defense, scoring in all types of ways imaginable for a superstar. Edwards hit threes, blown by some of the toughest defenders in the NBA Aaron Gordon, and hit fadeaway mid-range jumpers reminiscent of Jordan. More importantly, Edwards displayed the level of maturity a superstar has to make in the playoffs &ndash; playing off of your teammates and playmaking for the entire team. He has done it so far with relative ease and that&rsquo;s why the Timberwolves have found their early success in this postseason.
He&rsquo;s doing it against supposedly their biggest challenge &ndash; the defending champions &ndash; who sent them home a year ago. &ldquo;Last year we didn&rsquo;t have Jaden (McDaniels) and Naz (Reid) against them so it was quite frustrating. Now that we have both I think we can definitely do better,&rdquo; Edwards said about their biggest thing in this rematch series vs Denver is being healthy.
Before the season started, Edwards was this up-and-coming 22-year-old star leading his nation at the World Championships for a chance at glory. Although the Americans ended up not medalling after losing to eventual world champions Germany in the semifinals and to neighboring Canada in the third-place game, Edwards was clearly the best player on the team filled with young American talent. He led Team USA in scoring, and at 22 years old, this was only the start of a big year ahead.
Edwards then was the clear-cut best player for the third-best team in the West, with Minnesota having a 56-26 record. Those 56 wins were the most since 2004 when they had 58 and went to the Western Conference Finals. They were led back then by legend Kevin Garnett but that was also their last time seeing the playoffs.&nbsp;
20 years later, Edwards is now shouldering all the burden by taking this Wolves team back to relevance, basking in all the glory he&rsquo;s worked so hard to attain. He&rsquo;s one of the bonafide young rising superstars in the league, and he intends to take them all the way.
Edwards&rsquo; huge season and ascension to superstardom could be attributed back to something you see coming even from a mile away. And it all started in that summer lengthy yet productive summer in 2023.
While most players use their summers to recuperate, have a vacation somewhere, and spend time with families and loved ones, Edwards took a privileged yet opportunistic route: play with the National Team at the FIBA World Cup. Usually, NBA superstars all express their willingness to play with the National Team at the Olympics. For no definite reason, somehow the FIBA World Cup does not seem appealing to play for the older/senior superstar guys, so it&rsquo;s usually the juniors/young guys who represent Team USA. Anthony Edwards took up that challenge and became the best player for the team and in turn, he&rsquo;s reaping the benefits of it in the playoffs.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put in work this summer. Big shoutout to the USA team, man. They got me ready for the season.&rdquo;
That killer mentality that Edwards has is something that&rsquo;s never seen often and has been with only a select few in the history of the game, particularly Jordan and Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Behind all that bold and tough personality, however, is a side of himself that genuinely enjoys playing with his teammates.
When asked about the prospect of having his Wolves&rsquo; teammates, the first thing out of his mouth was how he was excited to meet them while playing for their respective countries (Rudy Gobert for France, Karl-Anthony Towns for Dominican Republic, Kyle Anderson for China, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada). He looked forward to playing against them, citing how much fun he would have once it happened.
Despite his clear burgeoning superstardom, however,&nbsp; Edwards still deflected every credit thrown towards him. When asked what he feels as one of the guys being billed as one of the next faces of the league, Edwards dismissed the idea faster than a Math teacher dispersing students after giving out a tough assignment due &ndash;&nbsp; immediately answering without hesitation that he does not make anything of it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just gonna keep working, man. I make nothing of it, yeah. I just hope that I keep getting better.&rdquo;
It was clear all along among all the people in the gym that fateful day: Edwards had the most aura out of them all. It was just oozing, something you can feel when you&rsquo;re around certain people. It&rsquo;s kind of intimidating, but only to a certain extent. You can just feel the energy brewing and that certain look when you come across one of the ones. The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season long. With most of their games out of the eyes of the majority, Edwards assured one thing going into the season sternly and convincingly.
&ldquo;We just gonna try to keep playing, man. We&rsquo;re not really worried about the national TV games. As long as we win, we&rsquo;ll be on TV when we make it into the playoffs. The world will know about us.&rdquo;
As their playoff mantra suggests, the Timberwolves have been waiting for this moment since 2004. From the annals of the great Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s era to ushering this new one paved by superstar-in-the-making, young Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves have arrived.

The underlying factor before the season was Minnesota only having five national TV games all season despite having Anthony Edwards.

‘WOLVES BACK’: Anthony Edwards introduces the Timberwolves back to the world

Springfield, Massachusetts has been offering glimpses into the future of basketball since James Naismith put some peach baskets on a YMCA wall in 1891. Every MLK weekend, the town gives us another in the form of the HoopHall Classic, where dozens of the best high-school players in the country descend on Blake Arena.
The HoopHall Classic is also one of three high-school showcases this season that was given the green light for NBA scouts to attend. It's a prime opportunity for the elite talents to separate themselves from the pack &mdash; or for less heralded names to put themselves on the map.
I checked into the arena at 10 a.m. and caught all eight contests. These standouts, among many others, caught my eye:
DeMatha Catholic (MD) 66, Bishop Loughlin (NY) 55
Mason So, Bishop Loughlin &mdash;&nbsp;So wasn't the leading scorer of the game or the team MVP, but he really impressed with the little things he did to help the Stags keep control. The UNC Greensboro commit finished with 14 points and operated as a secondary ball-handler and spaced the floor well.
So hit 2-of-5 three-point attempts, but his best play came when he initiated the offense, passed the ball away, snuck behind the Bishop Loughlin zone to the low block and got it back for an easy layup. The senior also hustled on the glass impressively for a 6-foot-2 guard and grabbed 7 total boards.
Mount St. Joseph's (MD) 54, North Laurel (KY) 48
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Mount St. Joseph wins by 6 over North Laurel! 😤 🏀 Mount St. Joseph - 54 North Laurel - 48 🏆 MVP - Tyonne Farrell 19 PTS - 4 REB - 5 AST - 🏟️ - Hoophall Classic 2023 cc: <a href="https://twitter.com/HoophallClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoophallClassic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Spalding?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Spalding</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MSJ_Basketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MSJ_Basketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/943lF8n6bW">pic.twitter.com/943lF8n6bW</a>
&mdash; Legit Sport Stats (@LegitSportStats) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegitSportStats/status/1614685273568288768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Tyonne Farrell, Mt. St. Joseph's &mdash;&nbsp;Farrell logged an awesome statement game in front of the college recruiters and NBA scouts: 19 points, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 4 rebounds. The forward (listed at 6-foot-6, though he seems taller) was a monster protecting the rim. Both squads talked trash back-and-forth throughout and Farrell's rejections made quite the statement.
"Scrappy game; they were talking a lot of smack," Farrell told Basketball News. "It was good to block shots and talk back."
He also nearly brought the hoop down with an emphatic designed alley-oop slam. But Farrell, a junior, was more than a rim-runner and cutter. He made 1-of-2 triples and was not afraid to power-drive from the perimeter. Farrell grew up playing guard but has grown and built out his frame. He lists Paul George and Jayson Tatum among his favorite pros to watch because of the way they can handle the ball and use their strength fluidly.
Farrell and Illinois-bound senior teammate Amani Hansberry teamed up for 5 assists apiece; each took turns dissecting North Laurel's zone from the middle of the half-court. Hansberry had a strong afternoon of his own with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.&nbsp;
"Me and Amani, we go well together because we both can pass," Farrell said. "So he'll catch the ball, I'll backdoor slip and he'll find me. And then, we'll set screens for each other, [and] we both can handle the ball pretty well for bigger people. So it's lovely playing with Amani. He's a great player."
Farrell didn't dive into his college situation, but he has publicly posted an offer from Rhode Island and said he's confident in the direction of his recruitment. He didn't even know NBA personnel could attend this year's Classic &mdash; but it added another boost of confidence when he learned afterwards.
"That makes me feel great; I didn't know that," he said with a laugh. "That's amazing... gotta get my name out there."
Reed Sheppard, North Laurel &mdash;&nbsp;Sheppard, a four-star senior bound for Kentucky, simply didn't have his shot falling (5-for-21 from the field, 3-for-14 from three-point range). But he still ended up with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals by impacting the game just about everywhere else. He played at a rapid pace that really worked in transition, but even his drive-and-kick passes occurred at blazing speeds. Sheppard follows in the footsteps on his father, Kentucky legend Jeff Sheppard, but the younger ballplayer looks more than capable of carving out his own path.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Ss. John Neumann-Maria Goretti (PA) 55, Vashon (MO) 45
Robert Wright III, Neumann-Goretti &mdash;&nbsp;Alright, another smaller guard with a big day! Wright, a 6-foot junior, has already committed to Baylor and he posted 17 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals for Neumann-Goretti in the victory. He displayed some impressive passing reads and decision-making in the open floor. Wright didn't shoot all that well and did struggle in the half-court with some of the opposing size. But he's crafty and creative, and his 5-foot-10 teammate Khaafiq Myers helps form one of the most fun backcourts seen this weekend.
Simeon Career Academy (IL) 52, Archbishop Stepinac (NY) 39
Miles Rubin, Simeon &mdash;&nbsp;Rubin is a 6-foot-9, 3-star big man en route to Loyola Chicago. He finished with an efficient 17 points (8-for-10 from the field) plus 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, and was the beneficiary of some timely interior passing. His frontcourt partner and twin brother Wesley (7 assists) frequently caught the basketball around the elbow and threw it inside as Rubin cut to the basket.
The senior also added two blocks, one being an impressive help-defense rejection on 5-star guard Boogie Fland. Simeon tasked Rubin early with showing hard in pick-and-roll defense and it led to two fouls, so there's room to improve with his mobility on the perimeter. Still, Rubin was rock-solid inside and a safe bet as a decision-maker.
Also, I have to shout out Simeon guards Michael Ratliff and Rashard McKinnie. They took turns tracking Fland and neutralized his downhill speed and strength. Fland can get low and slide right by most defenders, but not these two.
AZ Compass Prep (AZ) 55, Oak Hill Academy (VA) 35
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Zayden High shot 100% from the field in AZ Compass&rsquo;s win over Oak Hill 55-35 🐉 <a href="https://t.co/oEPuA4L7hC">pic.twitter.com/oEPuA4L7hC</a>
&mdash; NIBC (@NIBCOfficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/NIBCOfficial/status/1614756786053218304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Zayden High, Compass Prep &mdash; &nbsp;Most of this high-caliber clash was pretty ugly, but High helped Compass Prep pull away late with some timely two-way moments. The 6-foot-10 power forward went a perfect 5-for-5 with 15 points, including a three, a one-dribble pull-up two and some interior scores. His one block was a monster rejection at the rim on Oak Hill big man Drayton Jones.
"I like to think of myself as a shot-blocker," High said postgame. "I'm really good at timing the ball before it goes to the rim. It's all about timing for me &mdash; timed it, blocked it, right point at the right time."
High took instruction from his coaches late in the game regarding screening angles on both sides of the ball. In his first year at AZ Compass Prep, the UNC-bound big man says he's learning a lot about the ins-and-outs of screening.
"Coming to AZ Compass, I've learned a lot about setting screens, shifting my hips and being able to re-screen," he said. "It's helped me out because I'm a pick-and-pop guy; I'm a pick-and-roll guy. So it's lethal to the defense."
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Paul VI Catholic (VA) 72, Roselle Catholic (NJ) 59
DeShawn Harris-Smith, Paul VI &mdash;&nbsp;The Maryland-bound senior absolutely rocked in a huge win for the Panthers. Harris-Smith compiled 23 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. He's quite strong for a wing listed at 6-foot-4 and used that strength to surge past defenders on his drives. Harris-Smith also showed some foresight as a vertical cutter and held his own defensively. He seems physically prepared and experienced enough to make the leap to college ball as a dynamic 4-star talent.
Simeon Wilcher, Roselle &mdash;&nbsp;Wilcher, with 21 points and 5 assists, was Roselle Catholic's scoring spark to keep this game competitive. The senior guard has all sorts of tricks in his bag, including one crab-dribble-type move that split two defenders and ended in a layup. Wilcher had a lot on his plate with 5-star teammate Mackenzie Mgbako struggling, so the 6 turnovers are understandable with the load he had to carry as a creator. He'll be the next top-notch guard to watch at North Carolina next season.&nbsp;
Prolific Prep (CA) 71, Westtown (PA) 33
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Top freshman Tyran Stokes and <a href="https://twitter.com/ProlificPrep?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ProlificPrep</a> lead Westtown 29-16 at halftime of their <a href="https://twitter.com/HoophallClassic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoophallClassic</a> matchup ✅<a href="https://twitter.com/tyran_stokes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tyran_stokes</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wds1Plac2V">pic.twitter.com/Wds1Plac2V</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) <a href="https://twitter.com/SCNext/status/1614787207159504899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Tyran Stokes, Prolific Prep &mdash;&nbsp;There was one moment late in the second half of Prolific Prep's blowout victory where Stokes caught his breath during a pause in action. A young fan exclaimed, "He's just a freshman!" from the bleachers and Stokes tossed a sly wink back.
"My game, I just come with a swag," Stokes told Basketball News. "My teammates come with it [too], so it's just a group thing."
Stokes will assuredly be among the top freshmen in the country whenever 2026 rankings drop, and he backed up his confidence with an easy 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. The 6-foot-7 wing threw down two alley-oop dunks from senior Aden Holloway and lobbed up one of his own to Zion Sensley.&nbsp;
Prolific Prep has several more experienced playmakers, so Stokes can get comfortable spacing the floor and cutting for the most part. He says his coaches and teammates have helped advance his overall processing speed as a cutter.
"[In] middle school it was a lot slower, but once I got to high school, it just became way faster. The game was faster, so I had to step my game up," he said.
Stokes already has swarms of colleges after him (just check his <a href="https://twitter.com/tyran_stokes/media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>), and HoopHall was a big test for his maturity under the eyes of college and pro scouts. He says his mother, Kee, is his biggest source of support and helps relieve some of the stress of his impending rise.
"Me and my mom, we just work as a team to block all the noise out," Stokes said. "People come at me, people come at her, and we just stick together and don't let nobody get to us."
Zion Sensley, Prolific Prep &mdash;&nbsp;Beyond throwing down that alley-oop from Stokes, Sensley earned his game's Most Valuable Player robe with with 18 points, canning 7-of-10 shots. He knocked down threes from the corner, ran the floor for layups and even added in some mid-range self-creation. Sensley has more game off the dribble than he got the chance to show in a dominant win, and his offensive versatility at 6-foot-8 is intriguing. He's a 4-star junior worth keeping an eye on.
Imhotep (PA) 62, Cardinal Hayes (NY) 59
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Justin Edwards puts the first points on the board for Imhotep. <a href="https://t.co/z6dhGBzqYJ">pic.twitter.com/z6dhGBzqYJ</a>
&mdash; Bella DiAmore (@belladiamore) <a href="https://twitter.com/belladiamore/status/1614805998539100160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2023</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Justin Edwards, Imhotep &mdash; Edwards made his case for the top billing in the 2023 high-school class with a dominant effort in a thrilling Sunday nightcap. The 6-foot-7 wing amassed 25 points, 12 rebounds, 6 steals and 4 assists.&nbsp;
The defense particularly impressed me. Edwards took on Ian Jackson (11 points, 4-of-10 from the field, 5 assists), one of the best juniors in the country, and stuck with him throughout the matchup. He sprawled out on the floor for one steal and used some quick-twitch hands to poach other passes and get running. Edwards includes a defensive emphasis whenever he tries to cultivate a well-rounded performance.
"When I have an all-around game, it's me locking in defensively and getting my teammates going, so that was just the main thing," he said postgame.
Of course, the scoring was pretty remarkable too &mdash; a combination of emphatic driving slams and lefty mid-range pull-ups. He even snuck in an impressive entry bounce pass that turned into a layup assist. If you want to call Edwards the best senior in the country, you'll get no complaints from me.
Steven Solano, Cardinal Hayes &mdash;&nbsp;Solano's final stat line (4 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks) might not pop off the page, but his impact far transcended the box score. The lanky 6-foot-11 center was an impactful rim protector even beyond his swats and consistently thwarted Imhotep with his length and timely rotations. He only got on the scoreboard twice, but one bucket was a nifty layup spinning out of the post, suggesting he has a bit more of a bag than we saw. Solano's a 3-star center with a host of high-major offers and he could be an underrated find wherever he ends up.

Ethan Fuller recaps his standout stars from Sunday's HoopHall Classic games in Springfield, MA.

HoopHall Highlights: Top performances from Sunday's action

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the list of eligible candidates for the Class of 2023, including several high-profile, first-time nominees including Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade and the 1976 U.S. Olympic Women&rsquo;s Basketball Team. &nbsp; A first look at the list of eligible nominees was provided by &ldquo;NBA Today&rdquo; on ESPN; the complete list of eligible candidates can be found below. &nbsp; Finalists from the North American and Women&rsquo;s committee for the Class of 2023 will be announced on February 17, at 5:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, Utah, during NBA All-Star Weekend. &nbsp; The entire Class of 2023, including those selected by the direct-elect committees, will be unveiled during the NCAA Final Four in Houston, Texas, on April 1, in a nationally televised broadcast at 11 a.m. EST.
NORTH AMERICAN NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ken Anderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Beilein (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Bess (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Chauncey Billups (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Chambers (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Clougherty (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Cooper (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joey Crawford (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Curran (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Eaton (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cliff Ellis (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Michael Finley (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pau Gasol (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leonard Hamilton (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lou Henson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed Hightower (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; David Hixon (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mark Jackson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marques Johnson (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Keady (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Larranaga (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maurice Lucas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shawn Marion (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Rollie Massimino (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Motta (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dirk Nowitzki (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jake O&rsquo;Donnell (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tony Parker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Phelan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gregg Popovich (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bo Ryan (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Stan Spirou (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Reggie Theus (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dwyane Wade (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Buck Williams (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Williamson (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Westhead (COA)
WOMEN&rsquo;S NOMINATIONS &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leta Andrews (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jennifer Azzi (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gary Blair (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Bruno (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Hammon (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Becky Martin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Debbie Miller-Palmore (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kim Mulkey (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Still (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marian Washington (COA) &nbsp; INTERNATIONAL DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jackie Chazalon &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Mirza Delibasic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dusan Ivkovic &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Semen Khalipski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vladimir Kondrashin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Eduardo Lamas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marcos Leite &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Shimon Mirrahi &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Amaury Pasos &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Manuel Sainz &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Togo Soares &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ranko Zeravica &nbsp; WOMEN&rsquo;S VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1976 US Olympic Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1982 Cheyney University NCAA Final Four Team (TEA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Alline Banks Sprouse (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Edmonton Commercial Grads (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; John Head (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Yolanda Laney (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nashville Business College (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lometa Odom (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Harley Redin (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hazel Walker (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Valerie Walker (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dean Weese (COA)*
CONTRIBUTOR DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pete Babcock &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Baumgartner &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Henry Bibby &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Marty Blake &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Vic Bubas &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Doug Collins &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Wayne Duke &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Foster &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Gibbons &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Simon Gourdine &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tim Grgurich &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Junius Kellogg &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Johnny &ldquo;Red&rdquo; Kerr &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Konchalski &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bobby Lewis &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred McCall &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McCloskey &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jon McGlocklin &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Speedy Morris &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dennis Murphy &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Curly Neal &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Powers &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Will Robinson &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Gene Shue &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jim Valvano &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donnie Walsh &nbsp; VETERANS DIRECT-ELECT &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1936 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1972 US Olympic Team (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Barnett (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Blackburn (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sid Borgia (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Freddie Brown (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Coleman (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Eckman (REF) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leroy Edwards (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Leo Ferris (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Hy Gotkin (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Travis Grant (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack Hartman (COA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cam Henderson (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Robert Hopkins (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Charles Keinath (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Greg Kelser (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kentucky Wesleyan 1966, 1968, 1969 (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bob Love (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Loyola of Chicago (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Billy Markward (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Ed McCluskey (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jack McKinney (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Bill Melchionni (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Francis Meehan (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lucias Mitchell (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Donald &ldquo;Dudey&rdquo; Moore (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Joe Mullaney (COA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Willie Naulls (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; North Catholic High School Junior Varsity (Philadelphia, PA) (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Don Otten (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Philadelphia SPHAS (TEA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kevin Porter (PLA)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glenn Roberts (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lennie Rosenbluth (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Kenny Sailors (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred Schaus (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Sam Schulman (CONT) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Paul Silas (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Dick Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Tom Van Arsdale (PLA) &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Lambert Will (CONT)* &bull; &nbsp; &nbsp; Max Zaslofsky (PLA)

Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade are among the candidates for the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Basketball Hall of Fame announces candidates for Class of 2023

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Aliyah Boston missed the second half of No. 1 South Carolina&rsquo;s game against Hampton on Sunday with her right foot in a walking boot, but reserves Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins scored 14 points each in an 85-38 win.
Kamila Cardoso added 11 points and 14 rebounds for South Carolina. It was the 6-foot-7 forward&rsquo;s eighth career double-double.
Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter and needed several moments to stand up. Soon after, she headed to the locker room before the period ended.
Boston did not come out for the start of the third quarter, returning to the bench midway through the period with a walking boot on her right foot. Boston spent the rest of the game cheering on her teammates, who improved to 6-0 this season and 5-0 all-time against the Pirates.
No. 2 STANFORD 68, HAWAII 39
HONOLULU (AP) &mdash; Ashten Pretchel scored 12 of her season-high 17 points in the first half to help Stanford easily defeat Hawaii on the final day of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown.
The Cardinal (7-1) erased an early deficit and held the Rainbow Wahine (1-6) to a season-low scoring output.
Pretchel came off the bench and shot 6 of 10 from the field, including hitting five 3-pointers. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lily Wahinekapu led Hawaii with 12 points.
NO. 3 UCONN 86, NO. 9 IOWA 79
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Azzi Fudd scored 24 points to rally UConn past Iowa in the championship game of the first Phil Knight Legacy women&rsquo;s tournament.
Fudd had plenty of help, with Aaliyah Edwards (20 points, 13 rebounds) and three other Huskies (5-0) scoring in double-figures. Edwards was named MVP of the tournament.
Iowa (5-2) star Caitlin Clark had 25 points, and Kate Martin added 20.
Edwards got UConn off to a strong start, scoring 10 points while the Huskies built a 20-14 edge.
Clark and the Hawkeyes then surged with a 13-2 run to begin the second quarter and led 41-35 at halftime. Clark scored 17 points in the first half.
NO. 4 OHIO STATE 105, NORTH ALABAMA 67
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored 23 points and Cotie McMahon added 20 to lead Ohio State past North Alabama.
The Buckeyes (6-0) shot 58.6% from the field as all five starters reached double figures in scoring.
North Alabama (3-3) trailed by eight points with less than eight minutes to go in the second quarter, but Ohio State extended its lead on an 11-0 run keyed by five points from Madison Greene.
The Buckeyes held a 59-37 lead at halftime and stretched it to as large as 39 with less than three minutes remaining.
No. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 73, No. 5 IOWA STATE 64
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Deja Kelly scored 29 points to power North Carolina to a 17-point comeback over Iowa State and win in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational tournament.
Kennedy Todd-Williams added 17 points to help the Tar Heels (6-0) complete the comeback and remain undefeated on the season. Alyssa Ustby contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Stephanie Soares led the Cyclones (5-1) with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Ashley Joens had 18 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State suffered its first loss of the year.
NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 89, LONGWOOD 28
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Elizabeth Kitley had a double-double, Kayana Traylor added a double-double off the bench, and Virginia Tech rolled over Longwood.
Kitley had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies. Traylor had 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashley Owusu scored 21 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers.
The Hokies established a program record by holding South Carolina Upstate to 24 points on Nov. 14. Longwood passed 24 points when Adriana Shipp-Davis made a layup with 4:44 remaining.
Shipp-Davis had seven rebounds for Longwood (1-5). The Lancers shot 16.7% overall, which was also their 3-point percentage (3-for-18).
NO. 14 MARYLAND 87, PITTSBURGH 63
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Abby Meyers scored 12 of her 23 points in Maryland&rsquo;s 36-point third quarter and the Terrapins rolled past Pittsburgh to finish the Ft. Myers Tip-Off.
Brinae Alexander hit three 3-pointers in the Terps&rsquo; biggest quarter of the season and was 5 of 7 from distance to finish with 17 points. Lavender Briggs contributed 10 points as the three transfers had their biggest outputs of the season for Maryland. Shyanne Sellers added 13 points for the Terrapins (6-2), who went 2-1 in the tournament.
Maryland went 7 of 10 behind the arc and shot 55% in the second half.
Maliyah Johnson had 15 points for the Panthers (5-2), who only had one less 3-pointer but was outscored by 13 at the foul line where Maryland was 20 of 23.
No. 18 OREGON 86, MICHIGAN STATE 78
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) &mdash; Endyia Rogers scored 19 points, including critical back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Phillipina Kyei had a double-double with career highs and Oregon held off Michigan State in the third-place game of the Phil Knight Invitational.
The Ducks led 29-12 when Rogers scored the opening basket of the second quarter but the Spartans slowly came back behind Kamaria McDaniel, who had a season-high 28 points. McDaniel hit a 3-pointer and Matilda Ekh had a steal and layup and Michigan State tied the game with 7:17 to play.
That&rsquo;s when Rogers, who had a career-high five 3-pointers, scored from distance, the first coming after a timeout and the Ducks regained control.
Isaline Alexander scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Ekh 12 for the Spartans (6-2).
NO. 19 TEXAS 74, PRINCETON 50
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Sonya Morris scored 15 points, Taylor Jones notched a double-double and Texas breezed to a victory over Princeton.
Morris sank 5 of 10 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for Texas (3-3). Jones finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rori Harmon had 11 points and Aaliyah Moore scored 10.
The Longhorns picked up their second straight win after a three-game losing streak. Texas fell 16 spots in the AP poll.
Kaitlyn Chen topped Princeton (3-2) with 15 points. Julia Cunningham added 10 points. Ellie Mitchell came into the game leading the nation with 16.2 rebounds per game. She didn&rsquo;t score and had seven boards.
No. 22 MICHIGAN 84, No. 21 BAYLOR 75
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser scored 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds, Laila Phelia added 20 points and Michigan scored the final 11 points to beat Baylor in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Maddie Nolan scored seven of her 12 points in a 20-5 run over the final 4-plus minutes and Leigha Brown finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists forMichigan (7-0).
Ja&rsquo;Mee Asberry scored inside to give Baylor a 75-73 lead with 2 minutes to go but Brown made a layup and, after a missed 3-point shot on the other end, grabbed her own offensive rebound and kicked it out to Phelia for a 3 that gave the Wolverines the lead for good with 48 seconds to go.
Jaden Owens scored 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Bears.
NO. 23 TENNESSEE 105, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Rickea Jackson scored 15 points to lead a balanced attack and Tennessee coasted to a win over Eastern Kentucky.
Jordan Horston added 14 points for the Lady Vols (4-4), Jillian Hollingshead and Tamari Key 13 each and Karoline Striplin 10. Jackson and Horston both had five assists and joined Hollingshead with eight rebounds.
Antwainette Walker scored 18 points for the Colonels (4-3).
NO. 23 VILLANOVA 72, SOUTH FLORIDA 50
ESTERO, Fla. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Siegrist scored 25 points to surpass 2,000 for her career and Villanova used a hot start to beat South Florida in the third-place game at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Siegrist scored 13 points in the first half and 10 in the third quarter as the Wildcats (6-1) took a 58-36 lead. Lucy Olsen scored 10 of her 13 before the break.
Siegrist became the third player in Villanova history to reach the 2,000-point plateau when she hit a jumper at 3:46 of the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 50-31.
Sammie Puisis scored 17 points for the Bulls (7-2). Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu had 14 points with 17 rebounds &mdash; matching her career high, and Elena Tsineke scored 11.

Boston, the reigning Associated Press Player of the Year, took a hard fall on a drive to the basket late in the second quarter.

Boston hurt in No. 1 Gamecocks’ win; No. 3 UConn tops Iowa

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Steph Curry had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, Jordan Poole pitched in 24 points off the bench and the Golden State Warriors used a 47-point first quarter to spark a 137-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Klay Thompson went 5 for 8 from deep for 21 points and tied Joe Johnson (1,978) for 15th place on the NBA's career list for 3-pointers made for the Warriors, who raised their perplexing road record to 2-9. They&rsquo;ve won five of their last six games overall and eight of 11.
Draymond Green had his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 assists. Andrew Wiggins scored 17 points against his old team for the Warriors, who went 2 for 12 from 3-point range in the second quarter and still led by 20 points at the half.
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points for the Wolves, who were outrebounded 47-31 and allowed their highest opponent score of the season.
After the third quarter turned into casual outside shooting practice for both teams, the Wolves finally came to life early in the fourth quarter. A 19-4 run capped by a 3-pointer from Edwards brought them within 10 points, their closest margin since midway through the first quarter.
Curry missed his first three shots after re-entering at the 8:25 mark. After the Warriors called timeout to stem the tide he swished a 3 from the wing to push the lead to 121-108.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and Jaylen Nowell had 16 points off the bench for the Wolves, who are working through a lot of bad habits on both ends of the court &mdash; like standing around on the perimeter on offense. That trait is made more stark playing against an actively passing and cutting team like the Warriors.
The Wolves lost for the second time in two days after their five-game winning streak was stopped with a loss at Charlotte on Saturday.
The Wolves and Warriors have plenty of runway to get rolling on after their sluggish starts to the season. This game made clear the defending NBA champion Warriors are further along.
The Wolves played without Jaden McDaniels, their best perimeter defender who was sidelined by an illness, against a Warriors team that leads the league with 13 games of 30-plus assists and has long been the league king of the 3.
Wiggins started with a <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1596970716179464192">soaring left-handed slam</a> off a lob from Green, a signal just 12 seconds into the game that the Wolves were going to have their hands full. The Warriors made 17 of their first 21 shots for a 40-17 lead, built by a 28-4 run over a 4:27 stretch that Nowell finally halted with his first of consecutive 3-pointers off the bench. The 47-27 deficit after one quarter was the biggest for the Wolves this season.
The Warriors also ended a six-game losing streak in Minnesota that spanned more than 3&frac12; years. Their last win at Target Center was on March 19, 2019.
BODY CLOCK
The Timberwolves played their first of four home afternoon games this season, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded wistful for his playing days when more matinees were on the schedule and the NBA on NBC theme song was the main soundtrack.
&ldquo;It makes for a more normal existence. You have dinner at a normal hour, get to bed at a normal hour, so I enjoy them,&rdquo; Kerr said.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Golden State posted the second-highest first-quarter total in the NBA this season, according to Sportradar data. New York had 48 points in a loss to Oklahoma City on Nov. 13. ... The Warriors had a 36-22 edge in assists and have 30 or more in seven of their last eight games.
Timberwolves: Austin Rivers drew his first start of the season in McDaniels' spot. He had five points in 29 minutes. ... Backup PG Jordan McLaughlin (calf strain) was sidelined for the third straight game and backup SF Taurean Prince (shoulder subluxation) was out for the second game in a row.

Steph Curry had 25 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 137-114 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Steph Curry, Warriors cruise to 137-114 win over Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; Anthony Edwards said he's &ldquo;willing to do whatever it takes to make it right&rdquo; with the LBGTQ community and Minnesota Timberwolves fans following the homophobic remarks he recently made on social media.
Addressing reporters at Timberwolves media day on Monday, his first public appearance since the NBA <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-kevin-durant-1d513d7924e8199c789d9739ca74c324" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fined him $40,000</a> for his now-deleted video clip on Instagram, Edwards apologized again for the disparaging, profane comment he made about what he assumed to be the sexual orientation of a group of men he filmed on a sidewalk outside a vehicle he was riding in.
&ldquo;Man, I respect everybody. I know what I posted was immature, and I&rsquo;m sorry for that if I hurt anyone,&rdquo; Edwards said. "I&rsquo;m working to be better.&rdquo;
Edwards said he would be OK having a gay teammate if someone came out and would try to clamp down on homophobic language in a locker room if he heard it.
&ldquo;For sure. I'm taking it as far as I can. That's not who I am,&rdquo; Edwards said.
After ranking 19th in the league with an average of 21.3 points per game last season and helping lead the Timberwolves back to the playoffs, Edwards in his second year flourished into a true star and fan favorite who consistently brought a youthful energy and a charming confidence to the court and off of it.
Following the trouble he stirred up earlier this month, Edwards found himself in the strange and sudden position of being an unpopular figure.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of messed up, because I want people to love me, man. I don&rsquo;t want to give nobody a reason to hate me or talk bad about me, so I felt bad for myself and for what I said about people for sure,&rdquo; said the 21-year-old Edwards, who was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft.
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and coach Chris Finch both had stern conversations with Edwards after the social media post.
&ldquo;It just makes me think before I do everything now, pretty much," Edwards said.
Said Connelly: "He&rsquo;s disappointed in his own actions. He&rsquo;s disappointed that he put himself in that position, and hopefully he&rsquo;ll continue to grow and we&rsquo;ll continue to educate these guys on the importance of being really positive community members and respectful of all people that we&rsquo;re lucky enough to have in our community.&rdquo;
BONJOUR, RUDY
Media day for the Timberwolves has often been accompanied by some kind of off-the-court distraction, with the sudden firing of president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas (2021) and the trade demand made by star Jimmy Butler (2018) the most recent examples.
This time, the Edwards situation overshadowed some of the arrival of Rudy Gobert, the veteran center and defensive ace who was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-utah-jazz-nba-sports-26b3c07948dc5cd6e28b8f7da887517f">acquired this summer</a> from the Utah Jazz for four players and five first-round draft picks.
Gobert recently returned from the EuroBasket championship, where his France national team lost to host Spain in the gold medal game in which he had only six points and two shots.
&ldquo;You learn from the losses. You learn from the wins. For me, just learn how to finish the job. We had a really good tournament, but we fell short at the end,&rdquo; Gobert said.
PATIENT RUSSELL
Playing this season on a salary of more than $31 million, point guard D'Angelo Russell has returned to training camp with an upbeat attitude, a new pick-and-roll partner in Gobert &mdash; and as a <a href="https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1574419596387520512?s=20&amp;t=YBy0s1HmslFrRdF9UVckzg">new dad</a>.
After an up-and-down season, and a first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies &mdash; a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six-game loss</a> &mdash; that left much to be desired, Russell did not receive a contract extension. But the eighth-year veteran didn't get traded, either.
&ldquo;The money&rsquo;s in free agency, so if that&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re about, tap into it. No frustration," he said. &ldquo;The organization has treated me as great as it could possibly go, and the people here now have obviously showed their love toward me and how much they want me to be here. That&rsquo;s all I can ask for.&rdquo;
MISSING TOWNS
Karl-Anthony Towns was absent from media day with an unspecified illness, but he was not expected to miss the first practice on Tuesday.
STRONG IMPRESSION
Versatile forward Kyle Anderson was the most accomplished of the role players signed in free agency. The ninth-year veteran came from the Grizzlies, not coincidentally, after both parties made a positive impression on each other during the playoffs.
&ldquo;The fans were awesome and then the team played with tenacity,&rdquo; Anderson said. "Looking back at it, it was just like, &lsquo;Wow, Minnesota was all in.&rsquo;&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Anthony Edwards hopes to get past "immature" remarks and help lead the Minnesota Timberwolves back to the playoffs.

Wolves' Edwards 'working to be better' after homophobic post

Continuing &ldquo;Bet Week&rdquo; on BasketballNews.com, our next projections land upon what should be a very intriguing race for the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
As we witnessed last season with Ja Morant, it&rsquo;s usually a young star who emerges and ascends to a new tier. So, who makes the cut as the best bet for MIP alongside a fun dark-horse flier?
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Let&rsquo;s dive into it, with odds provided by DraftKings.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves (+1000)
As <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/three-nba-teams-who-raised-stock-minnesota-timberwolves-denver-nuggets-philadelphia-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I&rsquo;ve written</a> and said on multiple Basketball News platforms recently, I&rsquo;m buying all the stock in Minnesota. Many have said the Rudy Gobert deal wasn&rsquo;t great from the Timberwolves&rsquo; point of view for the amount of draft capital given up &mdash; and yes, it&rsquo;s an extreme price for a division rival to pay to the Utah Jazz &mdash; but, in the short-term, this move feels like a huge victory for the Timberwolves.
Intrigued enough already by the frontcourt pairing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, Gobert will make everyone else around him better. More specifically, it should allow Anthony Edwards to soar higher to superstardom. The flashes Edwards displayed in the postseason were incredible, and there&rsquo;s no denying that a No. 1 option upside is there for him.
Edwards could have a very similar trajectory to winning the award as Morant. Not only did the Grizzlies&rsquo; star burst onto the scene, but Memphis was winning a lot of games finishing as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. If Minnesota racks up 50-plus wins, they are in an advantageous spot to secure homecourt advantage for postseason play. Edwards has the makings of a 25-point per game scorer while the Timberwolves take a serious jump as contenders in the West. As the betting favorite, it&rsquo;s hard to deny Edwards as a worthy selection at +1000 odds.
Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers (+1200)
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r-QDK_-018o" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Unlike Edwards&rsquo; situation in Minnesota, Tyrese Haliburton won&rsquo;t be winning a lot of games for the Pacers next season. With their over/under win total checking in at 24.5 on DraftKings, Indiana should be in a prime position to be picking near the top of the 2023 NBA Draft. However, even if it doesn&rsquo;t translate immediately into the win column, Haliburton&rsquo;s statistics should be outstanding.
Following the blockbuster trade that sent Haliburton from Sacramento to Indiana for Domantas Sabonis, the 2020 lottery pick saw a noticeable spike in production, averaging 17.5 points, 9.6 assists and 1.8 steals on an efficient 62.9% True Shooting percentage. Haliburton showcased that he can handle the additional workload, so the sky is the limit for what&rsquo;s next. With the system flowing through him, Haliburton provides immediate 20-and-10 potential in Indiana. Also, bringing aboard Bennedict Mathurin at No. 6 overall provides a worthy running mate to take pressure off of him in the long run.
Haliburton checks in right behind Edwards for the second spot on DraftKings&rsquo; MIP rankings at +1200. His case is strong when you consider only Chris Paul, James Harden and Trae Young were the only other guards to average at least 9.5 assists per game last season. Keep an eye on Haliburton blossoming into the true face of the franchise in Indianapolis.
Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers (+4500)
When scrolling through the MIP odds, I was blown away by this ranking. Sure, Evan Mobley won&rsquo;t be the primary option in Cleveland, but he was so impressive throughout his rookie campaign. If anything, we should all be expecting a noticeable jump from Mobley entering 2022-23.
The former No. 3 overall pick averaged 15.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game last season. Only two players joined Mobley in putting up these numbers: Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis. Those are arguably two of the freakiest big men in modern NBA history, so that&rsquo;s certainly a perfect path for Mobley to be on.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/cleveland-cavaliers-begin-nba-summer-league-offseason-darius-garland-evan-mobley-jb-bickerstaff-ricky-rubio-cedi-osman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Expectations are high for the Cavaliers</a> next season, and there&rsquo;s no denying all the talent that is present within their rotation. Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Mobley are their own big three, but don&rsquo;t forget about Caris LeVert (and potentially Collin Sexton) headlining as an impressive depth piece for Cleveland.
Don&rsquo;t be stunned if the Cavaliers are flirting with a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference. If so, that means Mobley will have become the two-way monster everyone predicted. At +4500, these odds are too good to pass up on for one of the NBA&rsquo;s most promising prospects.
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-but-bets/id1589799249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For all the latest NBA betting trends, spreads, props and more, check out Basketball News' betting podcast "Nothing But Bets."</a>
Also, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/best-bets-on-202223-nba-rookie-of-the-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here to check out</a>: "Best bets to win the 2022-23 NBA Rookie of the Year award."

Which names stand out as top candidates to win NBA Most Improved Player? Evan Sidery breaks down the favorites.

Best bets to win the 2022-23 NBA Most Improved Player award

The 2023 NBA playoffs are more than nine months away, and one thing is already clear.
There will be chaos.
The Minnesota Timberwolves grabbed a megaphone and announced that to the world when they traded multiple players and several first-round picks &mdash; one of them in 2029, which means that youngster is currently 12 and probably can&rsquo;t dunk yet &mdash; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-utah-jazz-nba-sports-26b3c07948dc5cd6e28b8f7da887517f">to the Utah Jazz for Rudy Gobert.</a>
And with that, Minnesota is officially added to a list of legit Western Conference title contenders. There are solid arguments that can be made for no fewer than seven teams right now when debating who&rsquo;ll represent the West in this coming season&rsquo;s NBA Finals: defending champion Golden State, along with Phoenix, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, Denver and Minnesota are all on that list.
Remember, at least three of those teams won&rsquo;t get past the first round next spring. At least three.
But give the Timberwolves credit for what they did, because this is the way of the NBA world now. Organizations are either all-in or all-out.
Some team is about to send another massive package of players and picks to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant, unless the Nets somehow <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-basketball-kevin-durant-da572379d0eabc5025a2106344695f6f">change his mind about wanting to be traded elsewhere.</a> And that team &mdash; doesn&rsquo;t matter which one &mdash; will instantly see its title hopes soar even higher by adding perhaps the most unguardable player in the game today. Durant is owed nearly $200 million for the next four years, is about to enter his 15th season (not including one missed for injury), will turn 34 this fall and teams are still lining up to bet it all to get him in their uniform.
&ldquo;The ones who were locked in that gym with me know what it is, they know what I&rsquo;m about,&rdquo; <a href="https://twitter.com/KDTrey5/status/1543220271921840128?s=20&amp;t=-2imCXyePn9bkHHvYQHFdQ">Durant tweeted on Saturday,</a> his first public comment since requesting a trade from the Nets. &ldquo;If u haven&rsquo;t been in there with me, ask around.&rdquo;
Cryptic in some ways, clear in others. Durant wants more rings. In other words, somebody better go all-in.
That&rsquo;s what it takes.
Golden State spent somewhere around $340 million this past season on a championship-winning roster, about half of it in salary and the other half in luxury tax. Sure, the Warriors are deep-pocketed. But such is the price of doing business right now, especially in an NBA coming off a year where a record $8.9 billion in basketball related income was generated.
And the Timberwolves are the latest team to embrace that reality.
Gobert is owed $170 million over the next four seasons. Karl-Anthony Towns is owed $295 million over the next six seasons, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-covid-nba-sports-health-e166af0d243b55ff4b581f7ba5f5d5fe">after guaranteeing most of that in an extension</a> that was struck a few hours before the Gobert trade happened. Anthony Edwards, a star in the making, is on pace for a massive rookie extension next summer. Minnesota, a team that hasn&rsquo;t won a playoff series since 2004, is swinging for the fences. New owner Alex Rodriguez, he of the 696 career home runs, must be proud.
Someone is going to get Durant. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-sports-kyrie-irving-f07bead702771069df05809872a7ae85">It&rsquo;s not reckless to think that Kyrie Irving</a> could want a trade now as well, and if the Nets move Durant, they may as well move Irving instead of losing him for nothing next summer. Imagine Irving reuniting with LeBron James, this time with the Los Angeles Lakers, trying to recreate what they did in 2016 when Cleveland got to celebrate a title. If Irving goes there, add the Lakers to that list of legit West contenders, too.
New Orleans will have things to say about the playoff chase. So should Portland, assuming Damian Lillard is Damian Lillard again, and there&rsquo;s no reason to think that won&rsquo;t be the case. And who knows what Utah will be without Gobert, especially with speculation now surrounding whether the Jazz will choose to turn their roster remodeling into a complete teardown and trade Donovan Mitchell as well.
Keep in mind, moves are happening in the East, too.
Eastern Conference champion <a href="https://apnews.com/article/boston-celtics-indiana-pacers-nba-sports-00faa7bcb81773778bd2ccff8b817a3b">Boston significantly upgraded its depth by landing Malcolm Brogdon</a> &mdash; another example of big spending, with $67.5 million and three years left on his deal &mdash; and Danilo Gallinari.
Miami, the No. 1 seed in the East playoffs this past season, is known to be in the Durant sweepstakes and Pat Riley is always, always, always looking for more stars. It wasn&rsquo;t a free-agent move, but Atlanta believes it got better by trading for Dejounte Murray to play alongside Trae Young. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/philadelphia-76ers-nba-sports-basketball-pj-tucker-0ff7c77b197b64f251c9cc08c816596a">James Harden delivered his most significant assist as a 76er</a> by opting out and giving Philadelphia the freedom to go get P.J. Tucker; Harden is now expected to sign a new deal in Philly, and that cements them as another contender. Milwaukee spent to keep Bobby Portis, meaning most of the title-winning-core around Giannis Antetokounmpo remains intact.
Signings can&rsquo;t even happen for a few more days. Training camps won't start until late September. The season doesn&rsquo;t start until mid-October. And then it&rsquo;s six more months until playoffs.
That&rsquo;s when the big, bold and best moves of this summer might pay off.

There are a handful of NBA teams around the league who have made bold, giant moves to get closer to a championship.

Analysis: NBA teams going all-in, and that's what it takes

Riding the momentum of a return to the NBA playoffs, the leaders of the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to further elevate a franchise long mired among the dregs of the league.
Tim Connelly is the first big catch. They're counting on more players to follow.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason these coastal cities have a leg up, but what you can help develop and help add credence and definition to is your culture and the organization and the wins and losses,&rdquo; said Connelly, who was formally introduced Tuesday as president of basketball operations after nine seasons in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-16f98c5297d23a083e6eb360043048ad">that role in Denver</a>. &ldquo;Hopefully word spreads that this is where you're going to come if you want to be treated right.&rdquo;
Connelly agreed last week to a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/">reported five-year, $40 million contract;</a> Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed it includes bonuses for team performance. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the process of incrementally purchasing the club for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-nba-baseball-glen-taylor-alex-rodriguez-7068cd7eecf8fbd07023255059fc8901">$1.5 billion</a> from Taylor, made it a priority to aggressively pursue one of the NBA's most accomplished and respected leaders.
&ldquo;We have full confidence and trust in Tim, and he&rsquo;s going to be empowered to build a first-class, world-class organization. Full stop,&rdquo; Lore said.
The 81-year-old Taylor initiated the sale in 2021 with the intention of staying on as sort of a mentor to the incoming owners, who plan to finish the purchase in 2023.
&ldquo;We feel like we&rsquo;ve made good decisions together as a group," Lore said. "We just feel really good about the partnership and where we&rsquo;ve been and where we&rsquo;re going.&rdquo;
Connelly left behind a Nuggets team who has the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">back-to-back NBA MVP</a>, Nikola Jokic, and a still-promising roster that went 48-34 in the regular season &mdash; two games ahead of the Timberwolves &mdash; without injured standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Connelly also had to uproot his young family.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t looking for this. It was such a unique opportunity that was presented to me. The last nine years for me have been the best nine years professionally I could have ever imagined,&rdquo; Connelly said. &ldquo;As you had those sleepless nights, it makes you dig even deeper internally, even more introspective, and ask yourself if it&rsquo;s something you want to do. It&rsquo;s a leap of faith, certainly.&rdquo;
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards emerging as elite players and Chris Finch drawing rave reviews for his guidance in his first full season as coach, the Timberwolves pushed No. 2 seed Memphis hard over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six games in the first round</a>.
Minnesota also became the first team in NBA history to lose multiple games in a series with double-digit fourth-quarter leads, doing so a staggering three times.
&ldquo;I hope that as we continue to build a winning foundation and develop, this is a place that you want to come to win,&rdquo; Connelly said. "It&rsquo;s not about the weather. It&rsquo;s not about having some of these flashier markets. You&rsquo;re going to come here to win, to be treated fairly and have a lot of fun.&rdquo;
Connelly has become the seventh person in nine years to oversee the basketball side, since Flip Saunders returned for his second run. When Saunders died of cancer in 2015, Milt Newton filled in for one season. Then Tom Thibodeau was handed the top job in the now-outdated dual role of head coach and lead executive.
After Thibodeau was fired midway through the 2018-19 season, his deputy, Scott Layden, was the interim replacement. Three years ago, Gersson Rosas was hired but after a sudden dismissal, Sachin Gupta was put in charge. He's expected to remain in the front office under Connelly.
Finch was an assistant with the Nuggets in 2016-17 before being hired away by New Orleans. Connelly called him &ldquo;Finchy&rdquo; throughout his news conference Tuesday &mdash; a sign of the relationship they've already built and the relative security Finch will have under the new boss.
&ldquo;He has great faith in us and what we&rsquo;re doing here, me in particular, and he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;He is first and foremost about people. Doesn&rsquo;t take himself too seriously. Fits right in with our culture.&rdquo;

Tim Connelly is the first big catch to elevate the Wolves. They're counting on more players to follow.

Connelly wants to push Timberwolves into NBA upper echelon

The Minnesota Timberwolves are talking to Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly about their vacant president of basketball operations role, The Associated Press has confirmed.
The talks were confirmed by a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity because neither franchise is commenting publicly. The talks were first reported by The Athletic.
Connelly is one of the NBA's rising top executives. He has built the Nuggets into a perennial playoff team that is expected to compete for a championship next season if Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. can return to health and rejoin <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic</a> on the court.
Connelly, who succeeded Masai Ujiri as the Nuggets' prime decision-maker in 2013 when Ujiri left to run the Toronto Raptors, has been courted before, by the Washington Wizards for their president of basketball operations position in 2019.
He's built both a solid roster and a respected front office in Denver, where the Nuggets have reached the playoffs the last four seasons under coach Michael Malone, including the Western Conference Finals in the Orlando bubble two years ago.
They <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-jamal-murray-nikola-jokic-98c0c6136a8c3b14423c54f889a09a5d">won 48 games</a> in 2021-22 despite the absences of Murray (knee) for the entire season and Porter (back) for all but nine games before losing to Golden State in the first round of the playoffs.
In addition to losing Ujiri, the Nuggets lost front office executive Arturas Karnisovas in 2020 when he left to take the Chicago Bulls' executive vice president job. Karnisovas' departure led to the promotion of Calvin Booth from assistant GM to general manager in Denver.
The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">Timberwolves also are a resurgent team</a>, coming off a season in which they doubled their win total from the previous season to 46. They pushed the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies hard in a six-game first-round playoff loss.
That was only the second appearance in the playoffs for the club in the last 18 years. With Karl-Anthony Towns inside and Anthony Edwards outside, there is an enviable foundation in place on the floor.
The Wolves have had plenty of turnover in the top front office job over the years, mirroring the franchise&rsquo;s tumultuous and largely unsuccessful history.
They fired Gersson Rosas right before training camp began last fall in response to mounting tension around him in the building. Sachin Gupta was promoted to be president of basketball operations in Rosas&rsquo; place, with the caveat that the position would be evaluated again this summer.
Gupta drew raves within the organization for his humble, steady leadership, notably from head coach Chris Finch. The franchise is currently in an ownership transition, with Glen Taylor in the process of handing over control to co-buyers Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez in a sale that&rsquo;s scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
If the Wolves were to hire Connelly, or anyone from outside the organization, Gupta would more than likely be given the chance to stay with the team in a prominent position.
___
AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed from Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves are talking to Nuggets president Tim Connelly about their vacant president of basketball operations role.

Report: Timberwolves in talks with Nuggets' Tim Connelly

Yeah, the Minnesota Timberwolves' repeated shipwreckings in the first round might be tough to swallow for the next month. However, the blown leads and Karl-Anthony Towns trash talk undermine what was, in my estimation, one of the most promising seasons in recent franchise history.
Minnesota has made the playoffs twice since 2004. The only other time was a whimper of a first-round exit in 2018 that foreshadowed the collapse of a Jimmy Butler-led, Tom Thibodeau-coached roster. This season, Minnesota constructed a top-10 defense with the league's seventh-youngest roster, per RealGM, and went 30-17 in the 2022 calendar year.
Make no mistake: This franchise is on a positive trajectory, and is finally turning potential into production. Now, Minnesota has to make one of the most difficult leaps in basketball &mdash; going from a winning team to a true contender &mdash; at a time where the NBA wields some of the widest parity in recent memory.
The 2022 offseason can be a pivotal building block towards that leap. First, the franchise needs to secure its chief decision-maker.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Sachin Gupta assumed interim duties as president of basketball operations following Gersson Rosas' departure last fall. The Wolves made all of five in-season acquisitions under his tenure (three of which were 10-day signings), and executed zero trades. It was a quiet season on paper for the creator of ESPN's Trade Machine.&nbsp;
According to the <a href="https://www.startribune.com/timberwolves-sachin-gupta-chris-finch/600169496/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minneapolis Star Tribune</a>, Gupta seems prepared to navigate the Timberwolves through the summer, though the franchise has not made any move towards announcing a permanent head of operations yet. Wolves head coach Chris Finch has voiced his support for Gupta.
"They know my feelings about Sach," Finch said. "They know that I think he's outstanding and he's been a huge reason that we have stability in this organization right now. He's very smart. We have complete alignment. The players love him. He's appropriate in his presence around the team. He's not heavy-handed with the coaching staff. He does his job.
"I'm a huge fan, and I've advocated for him to have his opportunity to be the guy to run this team. Nothing would make me happier than that."
So time will tell if the new ownership group, currently including Glen Taylor, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, feel the same.
Minnesota has most of its current roster contractually intact. The team holds $1.9 million team options on 2019 second round pick Jaylen Nowell and undrafted Naz Reid, who have both emerged as quality rotation-caliber players. Perhaps the biggest free agent name is Taurean Prince (UFA), who solidified a solid floor-spacing role off the bench in the regular season, but struggled in the playoffs.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, defensive-minded wing Josh Okogie enters restricted free agency after playing just 10.5 minutes per game this season. The former 2018 first-round pick has seen his playing time decrease in each of the last three years. Nathan Knight and McKinley Wright IV also enter restricted free agency, while Jake Layman and Greg Monroe hit the unrestricted open market.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Inj6xo2NU1w" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Wolves likely won't have the salary cap room for flashy free agent acquisitions. According to Spotrac, Minnesota is all-but guaranteed to be over the cap before free agency even opens. Their best spending asset will be a $10.2 million non-taxpayer exception. Interestingly, Gupta has already commented on a potential team need.
"Defensive rebounding was obviously a big issue in this series and all year long," Gupta said. "That might be a more personnel thing and more size can certainly help. There's a mix for sure in terms of how we can address some of those areas and weaknesses just with development and internal growth and others that we may have to address with the roster."
Minnesota should have plenty of chances to fill this need with its exception. Purely spitballing, but some rebounding bigs who might fit in the $10.2 million exception include: Derrick Favors, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant and Andre Drummond.&nbsp;
But if the front office feels a greater compulsion to act, they have the players and draft picks to create enticing trades. Minnesota holds the No. 19 pick in the first round of the NBA Draft, and Nos. 40, 48 and 50 in the second round. How many of these selections will stay in the Twin Cities with a roster nearly full already?&nbsp;
Our Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock projects Minnesota to select Kennedy Chandler at No. 19, and then Ismael Kamagate, Jalen Williams and Hugo Besson in the second round of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his latest 2022 NBA Mock Draft</a>. Chandler could develop into a steady backup point guard behind D'Angelo Russell, while the others profile as high-upside swings that Minnesota doesn't need to step into the game right now.
One more wrinkle to monitor is Leandro Bolmaro, the No. 23 pick from the 2020 NBA Draft. The Argentinian wing spent most of 2021-22 with the Iowa Wolves in the G League, and put up 12.9 points, 5.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. Is Bolmaro ready to make an NBA impact?
The Timberwolves don't need to rush their franchise timeline. Anthony Edwards is only in his second season, and as we saw in the playoffs, still radiates untapped potential despite his ascendancy. Towns is the second-oldest player currently under contract, and even he's still just 26.&nbsp;
But there's no turning back once a young roster makes the NBA playoffs. Minnesota has set postseason play as the minimum standard for next season, and with youth comes expected improvement in each subsequent season.
Now Gupta, or whoever the next president of basketball operations is, must steer the franchise toward a path to greater heights this summer.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

A disappointing first-round series masked what was a breakout season for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

You could say that Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jaylen Nowell has burst onto the scene this season seemingly out of nowhere and I wouldn't correct you.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Greg Monroe when asked if he knows who all of his teammates are: "Not gonna lie, Jaylen Nowell played awesome tonight, but I had no idea who that was."
&mdash; Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaneMooreNBA/status/1475679491343241218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

The 43rd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Nowell dominated during the G League season his rookie year and saw minimal playing time down the stretch after returning to the NBA. He further sowed the seeds of his development last season, establishing a minor rotational role at the end of Ryan Saunders' tenure that carried over after Chris Finch's hiring midseason. However, an injury in April and poor play upon return edged him from the rotation, and he racked up DNPs to close out the year.
Nowell had shown capability with a larger role, having already proven himself at the G League and NBA levels, but it was on the outside looking in for playing time on a non-guaranteed contract &mdash; a precarious position. Nowell only played in half of Minnesota's games through Dec. 1, never eclipsing double-digit minutes.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/rotation-players-making-the-most-of-roster-incosistency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently wrote about players benefiting from opportunities</a> due to health and safety protocols and COVID absences in the NBA, and Nowell deserves his own breakdown in entirety, as he's perhaps beneftted from this opportunity more than perhaps any other player. He's soared in an expanded and certain role, cementing himself as a key cog of the Wolves for the foreseeable future; Minnesota <a href="https://www.startribune.com/jaylen-nowells-play-for-timberwolves-means-guaranteed-contract-chris-finch-minnesota/600133744/?refresh=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fully guaranteed his deal</a> for the remainder of the year earlier this month.
Duality of Driving
Nowell has crushed his role in Minnesota's offense since grabbing the reins (21 minutes per game since Dec. 17th), averaging 12.7 points and 3.0 assists on 61.8% True Shooting while canning 38.8% of his threes (3.5 per game). A quick glance over might project Jaylen as a formidable 3-and-D player, but that misses the mark in understanding his game and play style.
Minnesota as a team strongly lacks downhill juice among their ball-handlers outside of Anthony Edwards, who is still learning to balance out his game in the half-court, often opting into pull-up jumpers despite one of the best first steps in basketball. D'Angelo Russell is one of the better pure passers in the league, but his lack of ability to get to the rim or paint can inhibit his ability to shift the defense with his scoring threat.
Nowell has served as a sort of changeup off the bench, blending powerful driving with deft touch inside the free-throw line, and a cocktail of pull-up jumpers and high-level reads as a playmaker to capitalize in the pick-and-roll.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ir5zn8" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Nowell is second in drives per 75 possessions on the Wolves according to Basketball Index, only behind Anthony Edwards in frequency. He's not the bounciest finisher, but his timing is incredible. He excels at using angles and the fullest reach possible on finishes to make the most out of his physical tools.&nbsp;
57% of his shots come from 0-to-14 feet (rim to free-throw line), the highest mark on the team by a wide margin (Edwards takes 49% of his shots here); Nowell shoots 57.6% on those, including 77% at the rim!
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/mts2og" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Despite relatively poor shooting off-the-catch at just below 33% on those looks, Nowell is a fantastic secondary creator off the weak side, and flows well off of movement into ball-screens to attack a bent defense and continue advantages.
As noted with his timing, he's fantastic at collapsing the defense to his full capability at the rim before punishing the defense with quick drop-offs once the defense is committed.
Punishing with Patience
What I've found most impressive about Nowell is his patience. Many of the prolific drivers in basketball can have wreckless tendencies, with an all-or-nothing mentality at the rim leading to some wild misses, and many, a blocked shot.
Jaylen has a stellar awareness of his own abilities, how the defense is accounting for them and what his teammates are capable of doing with the space provided to them at any given time.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/9v6ywz" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Nowell's pacing in the half-court and ability to maintain composure in spite of defensive pressure just pops. I don't have any fancy way to break it down; you just watch and think "Wow, that guy's been breaking down NBA defenses for years."
His footwork is killer, and he's terrific at forcing defenders to overplay their coverage, extending themselves a touch too far. And then, either Naz Reid or Jarred Vanderbilt is getting hit with a pocket pass for a quick rim-run that can't be stopped.&nbsp;
He's a master, as well, at hitting the far corner (sometimes too much) out of pick-and-roll.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/xrj4g7" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
He has his reads down in a computer-like fashion, but his craft and timing prevent his game from appearing mechanical. The second the low-man tagger commits to the drive, the ball is whipped on a string to corner outlets.
One of my few qualms with him is his tendency to kill drives early. He still makes quality decisions and quickly passes when he decides to cut his drive off, but there are runways he leaves open that are ripe for the taking.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/2zzw8q" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Wolves' poor screening certainly plays a part in this however. Minnesota is pretty focused on its screeners slipping to the rim or popping to three; that can still draw switches, but it pretty regularly results in minimal separation created for the player running the ball-screen. I've particularly enjoyed when Nowell and Reid get to play together, as the big man can both screen for separation and roll effectively. Nowell really excelled with Greg Monroe as well when he played on a 10-day contract, showing the blueprint for getting the most out of Nowell's on-ball craft.
Nowell has largely impressed in every facet out of the pick-and-roll. He's shooting 51.6% on pull-up twos (very good), 54.5% on pull-up threes on one per game &mdash; which is unsustainable &mdash; but defenses have been burnt going under on ball-screens many a time by his jumper.&nbsp;
Second Spectrum data can be imperfect or lack context, but Nowell ranks in the 85th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball-handler among those who have played at least 20 games and run at least one of those plays per game. His 0.98 points-per-possession average is the most efficient on the Wolves.
Decisions Decisions
Nowell's emergence has been a blessing for Minnesota, as I'd posit that he's been one of the four or five most important offensive players for them this season. Especially for a team that has struggled to create in the half-court (24th in half-court efficiency per Cleaning the Glass), Nowell's creation has been a boon.
Yet, Nowell's emergence over the last month has also brought up legitimate questions about the roster build and how to better round out the team prior to the playoffs (one in which the Wolves need to be competitive).&nbsp;
Nowell's on/off splits, while not entirely indicative, back up many of my on-court observations; the Wolves outscore opposition by 10.5 points per 100 possessions with Nowell at point guard, but are outscored by 4.0 points per 100 possessions when he's at the 2, with the difference almost entirely coming from how many points are allowed by the defense rather than points the Wolves don't score.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Jaylen is a pretty underwhelming defender, as <a href="https://www.startribune.com/jaylen-nowells-play-for-timberwolves-means-guaranteed-contract-chris-finch-minnesota/600133744/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted by both himself and Chris Finch,</a> but he's much better playing out atop the key, pressuring opposing guards rather than rotating backline and closing out, a huge part of Minnesota's defense. When playing the point, he's asked to do more of what he's good at, and often has another rangy defender on the court with him rather than being asked to rotate off-ball, where his poor tendencies as a ball-watcher can get the best of him.
This Wolves roster is full of useful players, but they're useful players who struggle to impact the game on both ends in a positive way. The farther you get down the roster, the more this stands out; it's a natural problem, but one that stands out tremendously for a team hoping to make noise in the playoffs.
Nowell is solidifying himself as one of the players who can impact the game at a high enough level for the Timberwolves to overlook his drawbacks. Regardless of what Minnesota does to shore up its roster ahead of the looming Feb. 10 trade deadline, Nowell has deservingly played himself into the rotation and appears primed to parlay his consistent stretch into a new contract (the Wolves have a team option this off-season, but I wouldn't be shocked if they look to sign Nowell to a new deal instead).
There are few things more rewarding than witnessing someone make the most of their opportunity and thriving, and Jaylen Nowell continues to do just that.

Jaylen Nowell has found his footing with the Timberwolves and provided a necessary secondary look off the bench.

Jaylen Nowell is finding his rhythm for the Timberwolves

Josh Giddey has court vision on par with Ricky Rubio, yet he&rsquo;s four inches taller. He brings the ball up the floor and acts as the initiator in pick-and-rolls, yet he&rsquo;s the team&rsquo;s leading rebounder. He&rsquo;s only 22 games into his promising young career, yet he may already be the best 19-year-old passer the league has ever seen.
Yeah, you heard me. Maybe the best 19-year-old passer in NBA history. This season, Giddey has recorded a <a href="https://backpicks.com/2018/07/15/nba-passer-ratings-since-1978/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passer rating</a> of 8 with an <a href="https://backpicks.com/2017/10/16/offensive-load-and-adjusted-tov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offensive load</a> of 33.8, per Backpicks. Only one other player since 1955 has ever posted a passer rating of 8+ with an offensive load of 30+ in their age-19 season: LaMelo Ball. While the sample size may be small (since 19-year-olds usually aren&rsquo;t ready to compete with the best athletes in the world), it&rsquo;s still rarified air.
And this isn&rsquo;t just some cherry-picked stat that illustrates his prowess: Just watch and bear witness to his distributing virtuosity.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4nsnCU9roLk" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Despite his prodigious passing, he still leaves a lot to be desired. He&rsquo;s shooting just 27.6% from three-point range; he struggles consistently getting to and finishing around the rim; and an awkward frame and slow feet limit his ability to face-up on defense.
This enigmatic set of skills begs an interesting question: What is the ceiling for a player as peculiar as Josh Giddey? Can he be an integral piece of a Presti-led dynasty, or will he end up as collateral damage in a rebuild gone wrong?
As we did with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-high-can-anthony-edwards-fly-examining-the-20yearolds-ceiling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Anthony Edwards</a>, let&rsquo;s try to answer these questions by looking at five possible developmental outcomes for Giddey. We&rsquo;ll analyze what would have to take place in order for him to reach each tier and predict which outcome seems most likely.
Also, for each player comparison, I&rsquo;ve included that player&rsquo;s peak season in terms of Box Plus/Minus (using the <a href="https://backpicks.com/page/2/#RS%20BPM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Backpicks</a> version of the stat).
Tier 1: Pessimist Floor - Marko Jaric (Rotation Player)
Peak BPM (2004-05): 1.8 (T-65th that season)
A true deep cut whom only the most diehard of NBA fans will recognize. In all seriousness though, if Giddey doesn&rsquo;t improve, there&rsquo;s a chance he could end up as a flash in the pan like this former passing aficionado.
During his prime, Jaric was the rare wing-sized player who could handle the ball, operate the pick-and-roll and make slick finds like in this clip here:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u-ZayzrZik4" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Passes like that were not uncommon for Jaric, who was one of the great facilitators of the mid-2000s, finishing second in the league in passer rating (8.5) in 2004-05.
However, Jaric was out of the league by age-30 because of his poor shooting efficiency (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jaricma01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rTS -4.1%</a>), which was primarily caused by his inability to finish at the rim. From 2003 to 2009, except for one outlier season, Jaric never placed above the 24th percentile for his position in finishing accuracy around the rim, per Cleaning the Glass.
Giddey currently ranks in the 21st percentile in that category this season, which is a big reason why he&rsquo;s shooting <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/giddejo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9.1% below the league average in efficiency</a> to start his career.
The one saving grace for Giddey here is that Jaric never really developed a short mid-range game, shooting 33.7% from that area from 2003-2009. In contrast, Giddey is knocking down 46% of those looks this season, which places him in the 74th percentile for his position and gives him the consistent halfcourt scoring device Jaric never had.
Tier 2: Optimist Floor - Kyle Anderson (Starter)
Peak BPM (2020-21): 3.1 (T-28th that season)
For Giddey to become an impactful starter, the Thunder need to stop putting him in situations that expose his weaknesses as a defender.
Too many times this season, he&rsquo;s been put in positions where he&rsquo;s had to try and dance with faster players on the perimeter...
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2UUiOD4urwk" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
...or serve as the last line of defense around the rim because of his size:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kvHU6V86gmg" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&nbsp;
Players whose effectiveness comes from their mental attributes rather than their physical attributes are best utilized on defense in an off-ball, free-safety capacity, where they can channel their cerebral instincts to create havoc from the weak side of the floor.&nbsp;
A perfect example of this is Kyle Anderson. The two best BPM finishes of his career came in 2017-18 (2.2) and 2020-21 (3.1); in those seasons, his teams finished third and sixth in the league in defensive efficiency, respectively. Both years, Anderson was surrounded by feisty point-of-attack defenders (like Danny Green, Dejounte Murray and Dillion Brooks) and sturdy rim-protectors (like Jonas Valanciunas and LaMarcus Aldridge), who could shield him from his deficiencies and allow him to focus on his strengths.
During those seasons, Anderson ranked in the 96th and 85th percentile in steal percentage, per Cleaning the Glass, Giddey is only in the 69th percentile this season, but he has the length and awareness necessary to kick it up a notch and be an impactful defender if the Thunder use their treasure chest of draft picks to acquire personnel that enables him to do so.
Tier 3: Median Outcome - Joe Ingles (Sub All-Star)
Peak BPM (2020-21): 4.0 (T-17th that season)
This comparison is low-hanging fruit if I&rsquo;ve ever seen it. Both players are Australian, incredible passers, unconventionally athletic and (hopefully) contributors to winning basketball. The only real difference (other than the hair) is that one is currently a far superior shooter.
Joe Ingles tore through several threads of nylon with his shooting last season, and a big reason for this level of efficiency (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/inglejo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">+11% rTS</a>) was his proficiency as a catch-and-shoot and pull-up three-point shooter.
Last season, he shot 48.9% on 3.3 catch-and-shoot attempts and 41.2% on 2.7 pull-up three-pointers. Conversely, Giddey is knocking down just 26.7% and 35.7% of those types of shots. He&rsquo;s also shooting poorly from the free-throw line (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/giddejo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">67.9% on 1.3 attempts</a>), which is a strong indicator of future shooting success. But that&rsquo;s where the good news comes in: Ingles was also a subpar free throw shooter early in his career. In 2009-10, his age-23 season, Ingles shot only 69.4% from the line on 3.2 attempts for CB Granada.
Of course, Ingles has since transformed himself into a great shooter by developing a consistent and fluid shooting motion:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DvGRAYQd5y4" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Giddey&rsquo;s current shooting mechanics are <a href="https://rollcallsportsnet.com/josh-giddey-nba-draft-scouting-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funky</a>, but Ingles&rsquo; case study shows us there&rsquo;s opportunity for improvement. Such growth is necessary if Giddey wants to become an efficient scorer and top-50 player in the league.
Tier 4: Reasonable Ceiling - Toni Kukoc (All-Star Caliber)
Peak BPM (1996-97): 4.7 (10th that season)
Giddey has already shown the ability to make high-level reads in the pick-and-roll, going downhill on dribble hand-off, or while galloping down the floor in transition (see his passing montage above). But very rarely does he receive the ball on the elbow and operate down there like a passing hub.
That&rsquo;s where Toni Kukoc comes in.&nbsp;
Kukoc&rsquo;s ability to make decisions in the mid/high-post was an essential ingredient to the Bulls&rsquo; triangle offense during their second three-peat. He could receive the ball and either draw a double-team and find the cutter going toward the basket, or face up his defender, collapse the defense by penetrating towards the rim and kick it to the open man:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N0uYC99YUqY" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Kukoc may have a couple of inches on him, but in today&rsquo;s small-ball world, Giddey and the Thunder can definitely hunt matchups that allow Giddey to use his size to see over the top of defenders and pinpoint weaknesses in the opposition from that position on the floor.
Kukoc was also a part of <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1994.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five-straight top-six defenses</a> in Chicago from 1993-98, and while he lacked lateral quickness and vertical leaping ability, he made up for it by using his strength to bang with bigger guys in the post:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G8B8gNoQZ_A" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Meanwhile, we&rsquo;ve already seen stronger forwards like Jae&rsquo;Sean Tate bully Giddey down low:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qWY55KRc2xg" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Giddey would do well in his quest to become an All-Star to schedule some extra weight-room sessions &mdash; especially considering he doesn&rsquo;t have to worry about added muscle taking away from his speed. If he can do that while also occasionally moonlighting as a passing hub, he will be able to scale alongside high-usage ball-handlers and perimeter defenders, like Kukoc did during the second half of the Bulls&rsquo; dynasty.
Tier 5: Best-Case-Scenario Ceiling - Manu Ginobili (Solid All-NBA)
Peak BPM (2004-05): 5.5 (3rd that season)
J. Kyle Mann recently described Giddey&rsquo;s style as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSvieH2lfnw&amp;t=457s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;chaotic but purposeful</a>," so who better to compare Giddey to than the master of tamed mayhem himself, Manu Ginobili.
At his best, arguably no one straddled the fine line between chaos and order the way Ginobili did in his prime. There was a certain &ldquo;calculated recklessness&rdquo; to his game that made him unlike any player who came before him, and when you look at some of his offensive numbers in an All-NBA season, you see that Giddey has a ways to go to reach Ginobili&rsquo;s level.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 14.264%;">PLAYER</td>
<td style="width: 9.45753%;">YEAR</td>
<td style="width: 16.1332%;">POINTS PER 75</td>
<td style="width: 12.6618%;">FTA PER 75</td>
<td style="width: 8.52468%;">rTS%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 14.264%;">Manu Ginobili</td>
<td style="width: 9.45753%;">2007-08</td>
<td style="width: 16.1332%;">25.4</td>
<td style="width: 12.6618%;">7.8</td>
<td style="width: 8.52468%;">+7.2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 14.264%;">Josh Giddey</td>
<td style="width: 9.45753%;">2021-22</td>
<td style="width: 16.1332%;">13.1</td>
<td style="width: 12.6618%;">1.6</td>
<td style="width: 8.52468%;">-9.1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
At a glance, the gap between peak-Ginobili and current-day Giddey seems too wide to be closed. Yet the key to Giddey unlocking this tier rests on his ability to emulate one key facet of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LTgStJw9ao" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Scientist&rsquo;s</a> game: finishing at the rim.
As it stands, Giddey lacks the ability to soar over defenders or sprint past them, so when he meets larger defenders in the paint, he either gets his shot erased or avoids challenging them entirely:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wlUszUldXGk" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Ginobili was also slow-footed and definitely wasn&rsquo;t winning any dunk contests in his prime, so to compensate, he crafted a sophisticated (yet replicable) drive game. One thing he liked to do was take a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dr08ffRS10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">negative step</a> with his non-pivot foot to give him some added explosiveness on his bull rushes to the rim:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aZfDSiNI2F8" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
He would also try to throw his defender&rsquo;s timing off by deploying a bevy of hesitation moves at his disposal:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/93x5qt85S50" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
And he maximized his movement by using his length to elongate his strides. This allowed him to pick up his dribble early and gain control of his body and the basketball to brace himself for contact around the hoop:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4utcERL-hl8" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
His drive game and outside shooting (<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/ginobma01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">career 37% shooter on 3.8 attempts</a>) also augmented his playmaking. From 2007 to 2014, Ginobili created between 8.0 and 9.0 open shots for his teammates per 100 possessions, per Backpicks. He would draw the defense&rsquo;s attention with his scoring and this was especially noticeable in pick-and-roll situations; the defending big would regularly try hedging Ginobili, which temporarily put the Spurs in 4-on-3 situations and led to open shots like this play right here:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cm5cMXq8BPY" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Combining Ginobili&rsquo;s finishing package with the shooting improvements previously discussed would elevate Giddey into a constant advantage creator capable of forcing the defense into rotation and dissecting openings on the floor. That type of player is an All-NBA performer and, more importantly, a heavyweight offensive force on a championship contender.
The Verdict: Tier 5
And that is exactly what I think Josh Giddey will become. I know it&rsquo;s poor practice to believe a best-case scenario is also the most likely outcome, but Giddey is such an outlier among outliers that an unlikely result only makes sense.
There&rsquo;s a real argument to be made that at 19 years old, Giddey may already be a better passer (not creator) than Ginobili. And while his drive game needs work, he&rsquo;s shown flashes of being able to change speeds and lull defenders to sleep, just like Argentina&rsquo;s Flying Man:
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u2lwCgrSLnM" width="100%" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Unicorn players like Ginobili don&rsquo;t come around often; that&rsquo;s what makes them special. But when you see a kid like Giddey who surveys the floor with an eagle eye and controls the tempo like a nightclub DJ, it's hard to ignore the fact that he's of a rare breed.
His idiosyncrasies make you believe that he'll overcome the shooting woes; that he'll put on some weight and become a better defender; that he'll harness his full powers as a finisher; and that with the right personnel, he will be the fulcrum of a contender someday in Oklahoma City.

Josh Giddey has shown flashes of brilliance as a rookie, but what is the 19-year-old's ceiling? Mat Issa explores his range of outcomes.

Did the Thunder find lightning in a bottle with Josh Giddey?

It's a new NBA season, which means the Sour Rankings are back!&nbsp;
Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well-under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and general underwhelming play will all be considered.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Some teams value wins this season and paths to a title, while others are looking down the road at long-term pieces.&nbsp;
This week is not a "preview" installment; it is rather a barometer of the general vibe around a franchise as things get underway. The NBA preseason is generally filled with optimism; 10 teams make the Sour Rankings, but that doesn't mean they're all in dire straits, as I'll note.
So without further ado, let's get to it!
10. Washington Wizards
Given the circumstances, the Wizards had a satisfactory 2021 offseason. They returned three rotation-caliber players from the Russell Westbrook trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, and then went out and found a strong backcourt partner for Bradley Beal in Spencer Dinwiddie.&nbsp;
Washington could be a very solid team on paper with improved depth &mdash; but is that enough to make considerable playoff noise in the Eastern Conference? Beal's looming 2022 free-agent status shines a harsh spotlight on the current Wizards. Their star has stuck it out through multiple years of mediocrity. Maybe he'll re-up with the team that drafted him, but Beal would undoubtedly appreciate some serious postseason contention before having to decide.
9. Indiana Pacers
The injury bug simply will not let go of the Pacers. T.J. Warren still appears to be a ways off from recovering from a foot injury that held him to just four games last season. Caris LeVert will <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2021/10/16/pacers-caris-levert-getting-closer-but-miss-first-four-games/8489876002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly miss at least the first four games</a> of the regular season as he works to return from a stress fracture in his back. These are two top-scoring options out of the short-term picture.
Indiana largely opted to stay the course in a suddenly crowded East. The Pacers can't afford to fall behind early, and these absences certainly won't help.
8. New Orleans Pelicans
Another team hampered by health, this ranking is entirely due to Zion Williamson's injury status. The superstar forward has suffered a sprained knee, torn meniscus and foot fracture in the past years, and is now without a return timetable as he recovers from that foot surgery. Without Williamson, the Pelicans are nowhere near the playoff sleeper they could be &mdash; even with a new head coach and some positive roster moves. They need their centerpiece, and his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/we-should-be-worried-about-zion-williamson-ability-to-stay-healthy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developing pattern of injuries is concerning</a>.
7. Phoenix Suns
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Mikal Bridges on being there for Deandre Ayton after not signing a new contract: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s way more mature with everything. He has great people around him. I try to do the best I can to clear his mind, but it&rsquo;s tough. .. Being around him every single day, I don&rsquo;t want to lose that.&rdquo;
&mdash; Evan Sidery (@esidery) <a href="https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1450186692871135232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Three hours before writing this, I would not have remotely considered the Suns to be in the Sour Rankings. But the rookie extension deadline has passed without Deandre Ayton securing a long-term deal, the first No. 1 pick since Anthony Bennett not to do so.
Suns general manager James Jones did not negotiate a maximum contract extension with the Bahamian big man, perhaps at the direction of team owner Robert Sarver &mdash; but the team did agree to a 4-year, $43 million extension with draft classmate Landry Shamet. As Evan Sidery <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/news/authors/evan-sidery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote in regards to Ayton</a>, that's blasphemous, and it could fragment an extremely fun, likable Phoenix squad.
6. Sacramento Kings
Your 2021 Las Vegas Summer League champs are back to fight the longest postseason drought in the league. The Kings are making strides with their young talent, highlighted by the preseason success of No. 9 overall pick Davion Mitchell, and retained a core piece in Richaun Holmes.&nbsp;
But does it feel like Sacramento is any closer to the playoffs? Buddy Hield was all-but-traded to the Lakers, and his future is now uncertain as the Kings see if a De'Aaron Fox-Tyrese-Haliburton-Mitchell lineup has potential. What about 2018 No. 2 overall pick Marvin Bagley III, who was not extended at Monday's deadline? He's as big of a question mark as one can exist among young prospects league-wide.&nbsp;
5. Minnesota Timberwolves
There's definitely reason for optimism with the Timberwolves. Anthony Edwards had a phenomenal second half to the 2020-21 season and an overall stellar rookie year. Karl-Anthony Towns can be rid of the awful, awful year-plus he has endured personally. D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley can get buckets, Jaden McDaniels and Jarred Vanderbilt are intriguing defensive pieces and Chris Finch had a summer to prep for all of this as head coach.&nbsp;
But the Gersson Rosas firing and fallout feels all too Timberwolves-y. It's yet another reset for Towns, who was vocally frustrated at training camp. Is the front office in position to guide the team with the season about to start?&nbsp;
4. Portland Trail Blazers
Larry Nance Jr.'s acquisition partially salvaged what was a wildly terrible offseason in Portland between the Chauncey Billups hiring and the Damian Lillard trade rumors. It appears Lillard is content to stick with the Blazers this season and see how the team operates under its first-year head coach. That's admirable, but it also means the entire season will be laced with tension.
Portland should run back a fun, high-scoring offense. Will the defense improve with Nance in the frontcourt? That's the big question. If not, the Blazers will return to playoff mediocrity and potentially push Lillard closer to the exit door.&nbsp;
3. Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks were one of my picks for the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-nba-team-had-the-worst-offseason" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worst NBA offseason</a> (Jackson Frank also picked them), and nothing in recent weeks has made me feel any better. Mark me down as adamantly opposed to the Jason Kidd hiring. Reggie Bullock is a fine individual player; he is not going to dramatically alter things on the offensive end. Plus, Dallas recently released 2020 draft pick Tyrell Terry, and we haven't seen much of 2020 first-rounder Josh Green. Where does the optimism come from outside of Luka Doncic?
2. Brooklyn Nets
I'm not going to get deep into the Kyrie Irving situation from a public health perspective, celebrity responsibility perspective or general common sense perspective. I don't have anything major to add to those discussions, other than to reinforce that Irving is carelessly and dangerously misusing his power as a public figure.&nbsp;
This section is about the Nets, who are paying the price for Irving's choices. The NBA title should have traveled through Brooklyn and its Big Three, and the Nets are still an elite basketball team with improved depth. But, remove an All-NBA-caliber player and the ceiling significantly lowers. Instead of being the overwhelming favorite, the Nets have become just another contender.
1. Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons has given us the Hollywood trade drama we had missed since, well, last winter. Simmons was <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-thrown-out-of-practice-suspended-philadelphia-76ers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tossed out of practice and suspended Tuesday</a>, so the months-long firestorm appears to still be getting hotter. But while that's a win for NBA/TMZ crossover fans, it's a serious loss for the 76ers, who now have to take this show into the regular season.
Joel Embiid has never played more than 64 games in a season, and is coming off of two shortened offseasons sandwiching an East Finals run. That should cause concern. The backcourt is fun, but nowhere near close to replicating Simmons' impact. Maybe Simmons actually does suit up in games &mdash; will he bring a positive on-court presence to a team that has publicly denounced his game?
Until Philly finally makes a trade &mdash; and who knows when it could happen &mdash; the Sixers' season could range from awkward to disastrous.

Ethan Fuller ranks the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises ahead of the season.

NBA Sour Rankings: Chaos among the contenders?

As the face of the franchise for the NBA's most frequent loser, Karl-Anthony Towns has endured a lot more downs than ups over six-plus tumultuous years with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Emerging from the fog of their most recent setbacks on and off the court, the two-time All-Star center Towns and the Timberwolves have some fresh reasons for optimism in 2021-22 after two abnormal NBA seasons due to the pandemic.
Anthony Edwards is at the top of that list.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ready for whatever, man. It&rsquo;s just my second year. I&rsquo;m still learning. I don&rsquo;t know a lot. I don&rsquo;t know anything, really,&rdquo; Edwards said at the beginning of training camp, as boyishly confident and cheerfully unconcerned as ever. "All I do is go out there, grab a ball and play and have fun. So whatever there is for me to learn, I&rsquo;m ready.&rdquo;
Edwards was speaking in response to a question about the Timberwolves taking a more systematic approach to a defense that has long been one of the NBA&rsquo;s most vulnerable. Whatever the skill or task on whichever end of the floor, the first overall pick in the 2020 draft is oozing with the energy and talent to take his game to the next level.
One of only 11 players in the league to participate in all 72 regular season games last season, Edwards came off the bench to start and frequently deferred to Towns and D'Angelo Russell on offense. Down the stretch, with both Towns and Russell back from extended absences, he didn't.
&ldquo;But they&rsquo;re still killers,&rdquo; Edwards said. "They&rsquo;re still the best at what they do, so us three together, it&rsquo;s going to be really, really good.&rdquo;
That's what the Timberwolves, whose all-time winning percentage (.394) is the worst among the NBA's 30 active franchises, are banking on.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to continue to put this organization first every step of the way, and hopefully along the way I can find a lot more wins and a lot more chances in the Western Conference to win a Finals,&rdquo; Towns said. "Or even just give me a chance to be in the playoffs and let me rock.&rdquo;
LEADERSHIP SHUFFLE
The roster stayed largely intact over the summer, but the Timberwolves initiated yet another shakeup last month with the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-nba-minnesota-minnesota-timberwolves-glen-taylor-86f0e1ca1cf212c3d1292acd881e9227" target="_blank" rel="noopener">firing of president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas</a>. Owner Glen Taylor is also in the process of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-basketball-minnesota-minnesota-timberwolves-82a42a23375a522884db154a39bfcc2c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">selling the team to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez</a>.
Then there's head coach Chris Finch, who was hired by Rosas eight months ago to replace the fired Ryan Saunders and has only 41 games on his resume.
&ldquo;I love that guy already. I usually don&rsquo;t judge coaches that soon because I&rsquo;ve had a lot of them in a short period of time,&rdquo; Russell said. &ldquo;But from everything I&rsquo;ve seen, everything that I&rsquo;ve heard, his supporting cast, the staff around him, it&rsquo;s been great. The comfortability is there. I can feel it.&rdquo;
BEVERLEY ARRIVES
The most significant offseason acquisition the Timberwolves made was the trade for Patrick Beverley, one of the NBA's most intense defenders who will be the primary backup point guard to Russell. Beverley, as the only player on the roster older than 27 at age 33, will also supply a badly needed dose of leadership as a veteran with plenty of playoff game experience.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re preaching accountability," guard Malik Beasley said. "That&rsquo;s the main thing we need.&rdquo;
BEASLEY RESETS
Beasley has given Minnesota a reliable 3-point shooter since being fetched in a February 2020 deal with Denver, but he has only played in 51 games so far due to the coronavirus and other factors.
Last season, Beasley served a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nba-minnesota-minneapolis-minnesota-timberwolves-malik-beasley-abd8f9a46d101b3862e42ba43ea4a6a1">12-game suspension</a> from the NBA due to a felony gun charge that required him to spend four months in jail during the offseason. Between those punishments, he injured his hamstring and missed the final six weeks of last season. Healthy again, Beasley will complement Edwards as another viable off-the-ball option for Russell to distribute to.
&ldquo;I feel like my level of compete will be higher. I&rsquo;m ready to continue my journey," Beasley said. "The biggest part for me was mentally and off-the-court issues. Now I&rsquo;m stronger in my head, and it helps me get through different things.&rdquo;
4 ON THE FLOOR
The power forward spot has been in flux for several years, but the production from Jaden McDaniels as a rookie was one of the few bright spots from last season. Jarred Vanderbilt and newcomer Taurean Prince will also be in the mix at the position.
McDaniels has a slender frame &mdash; listed at 6-foot-9, 185 pounds &mdash; that frequently puts him in strength mismatches on defense, but his reach can go a long way.
&ldquo;Sometimes they try to bully me or things like that,&rdquo; McDaniels said. &ldquo;I just feel like using my length is a big part of that.&rdquo;

KAT and the Timberwolves have some fresh reasons for optimism in 2021-22 after two abnormal NBA seasons due to the pandemic.

Emerging Edwards gives Towns, T-wolves infusion of optimism

After rolling out my<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ranking-the-top-150-nba-players-for-fantasy-basketball-in-2021-22" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Top-150 NBA Fantasy overall rankings</a> last week, I have broken down each position into tiers.
It is important to state that these rankings are based on a nine-category roto format (points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, three-pointers, field goal percentage, free-throw percentage and turnovers). Also, please note position eligibility is based on Yahoo&rsquo;s fantasy settings and, as a result, many players qualify at multiple positions.
Guards
The two biggest question marks among all guards reside in Philadelphia and Brooklyn. Ben Simmons has (awkwardly) returned to Sixers, but it is still unclear whether Big Ben plans to "merely report to the team or truly rejoin the team," <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ben-simmons-arrives-in-philly-takes-covid19-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN</a>. Thus, Simmons is arguably the biggest boom-or-bust fantasy pick in the NBA this season.
Irving, on the other hand, is <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/itll-be-difficult-for-kyrie-and-the-nets-to-come-back-from-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener">persona non grata in the borough of Brooklyn</a>. Although Kyrie is eligible to participate in the Nets' away games, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said Tuesday that Irving will not be allowed to play or practice with the team at all until he gets vaccinated. &ldquo;He has a choice to make, and he made his choice,&rdquo; Marks <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nets-say-kyrie-irving-cant-play-or-practice-with-team-while-unvaccinated" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters Tuesday</a>. &ldquo;And my job here is to make what we deem is the best choices for the organization moving ahead and as a whole.&rdquo; There is certainly still a chance Irving gets his jab and is cleared to play, but it&rsquo;s too much of a risk to roll the dice until late in the draft, in my opinion.
Tier 1: James Harden PG, SG (BKN)&nbsp; Luka Doncic PG, SG (DAL) Stephen Curry PG, SG (GSW) Damian Lillard PG (POR)
Tier 2: Bradley Beal SG, SF (WAS) Trae Young PG (ATL) Jimmy Butler SF, PF, SG (MIA) LeBron James PG, SG, SF, PF (LAL)
Tier 3: Fred VanVleet PG, SG (TOR) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander PG, SG (OKC)
Tier 4: Jrue Holiday PG, SG (MIL) Chris Paul PG (PHO) &nbsp; Zach LaVine SG, SF (CHI) Donovan Mitchell PG, SG (UTAH)
Tier 5: Khris Middleton SF, PF, SG (MIL) Jaylen Brown SG, SF (BOS) De'Aaron Fox PG (SAC)&nbsp; Devin Booker SG, SF, PG (PHO)
Tier 6: LaMelo Ball PG, SG (CHA) CJ McCollum PG, SG (POR) Russell Westbrook PG (LAL) Kevin Porter Jr. SG, SF, PG (HOU)&nbsp; Dejounte Murray PG, SG (SAS) Malcolm Brogdon PG, SG (IND)&nbsp; Terry Rozier PG, SG (CHA)
Tier 7: Mikal Bridges SG, SF (PHO) Lonzo Ball PG, SG (CHI) Gordon Hayward SG, SF (CHA) Ja Morant PG (MEM) Bogdan Bogdanovic SF, PF, SG (ATL) Darius Garland PG, SG (CLE) Anthony Edwards SG, SF (MIN) DeMar DeRozan SF, PF, SG (CHI) Kyle Lowry PG (MIA) Tyrese Haliburton PG, SG (SAC) Derrick White PG, SG (SAS)
Tier 8: Mike Conley PG (UTAH) Jalen Suggs PG, SG (ORL) Spencer Dinwiddie PG, SG (WAS) Cade Cunningham PG, SG (DET) Ben Simmons PG (PHI) Caris LeVert SG, SF (IND) D&rsquo;Angelo Russell PG, SG (MIN) Collin Sexton PG, SG (CLE) Marcus Smart PG, SG (BOS) Jordan Poole PG, SG (GSW)&nbsp;
Tier 9: Andrew Wiggins SG, SF (GSW)&nbsp; Nickeil Alexander-Walker SG, SF, PG (NOP) Devonte&rsquo; Graham PG, SG (NOP) Evan Fournier SG, SF (NYK) Buddy Hield SG, SF (SAC) Norman Powell SG, SF (POR) Kemba Walker PG (NYK) RJ Barrett SG, SF (NYK) Reggie Jackson PG, SG (LAC) Dennis Schroder PG (BOS) Jordan Clarkson PG, SG (UTAH) Joe Ingles SG, SF, PF (UTAH) Joe Harris SG, SF (BKN)&nbsp; Malik Beasley PG, SG, SF (MIN) Kyrie Irving PG, SG (BKN)&nbsp;
Tier 10:&nbsp; De&rsquo;Anthony Melton PG, SG (MEM) Jalen Green SG (HOU) Klay Thompson SG, SF (GSW) Dillon Brooks SG, SF (MEM) Matisse Thybulle SG, SF (PHI) T.J. McConnell PG, SG (IND) Derrick Rose PG, SG (NYK) Tim Hardaway Jr. SG, SF (DAL) Kelly Oubre Jr. SG, SF, PF (CHA) Eric Bledsoe PG, SG (LAC) Kevin Huerter SG, SF (ATL) Josh Giddey PG, SG, SF (OKC) Tyrese Maxey PG, SG (PHI)
Forwards
Looking for a potential sleeper at forward? I&rsquo;d suggest highlighting Pascal Siakam or Evan Mobley on your cheat sheet.&nbsp;
After a phenomenal 2019-20 campaign, in which he was named to the All-NBA Second Team, Siakam failed to live up to expectations last season; his scoring average, three-point makes and effective field goal percentage all decreased. In addition, Pascal is still working his way back from surgery on a torn labrum, which has forced his ADP (Average Draft Position) to plummet. However, earlier this week, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said his star forward has been &ldquo;going 100%&rdquo; without contact for about 4-6 weeks, and could return later this month.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Evan Mobley is going to be a special defender in the NBA. GMs believe that Mobley will be the best player from his draft class in five years 👀 (🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Schmitz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mike_Schmitz</a>) <a href="https://t.co/iPiaabn2Gu">pic.twitter.com/iPiaabn2Gu</a>
&mdash; NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1446161049753882629?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Mobley&rsquo;s stock is soaring after impressive performances and extended usage for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the preseason (he&rsquo;s leading his team in playing time, logging 28.4 minutes per game). Mr. Mobley is probably worth the gamble, as his upside is emarkably enticing.&nbsp;
Tier 1: Nikola Jokic PF, C (DEN)
Tier 2: Jayson Tatum SF, PF (BOS) Giannis Antetokounmpo PF, C (MIL) Kevin Durant SF, PF (BKN) Joel Embiid PF, C (PHI) Anthony Davis PF, C (LAL)&nbsp; Bradley Beal SG, SF (WAS) Paul George SF, PF, SG (LAC)
Tier 3: Jimmy Butler SF, PF, SG (MIA) LeBron James PG, SG, SF, PF (LAL) Domantas Sabonis PF, C (IND) Bam Adebayo PF, C (MIA) Michael Porter Jr. SF, PF (DEN Zach LaVine SG, SF (CHI)
Tier 4: Khris Middleton SF, PF, SG (MIL) Jaylen Brown SG, SF (BOS) Julius Randle PF, C (NYK) Devin Booker SG, SF, PG (PHO) Myles Turner PF, C (IND) OG Anunoby SF, PF (TOR)&nbsp; Tobias Harris SF, PF (PHI)
Tier 5: Richaun Holmes PF, C (SAC) Brandon Ingram SF, PF (NOP) Christian Wood PF, C (HOU) Kristaps Porzingis PF, C (DAL) John Collins PF, C (ATL) Kevin Porter Jr. SG, SF, PG (HOU)&nbsp; Zion Williamson PF (NOP)
Tier 6: Pascal Siakam PF, C (TOR) Mikal Bridges SG, SF (PHO) Jaren Jackson Jr. PF, C (MEM) Chris Boucher PF, C (TOR) Gordon Hayward SG, SF (CHA) Bogdan Bogdanovic SF, PF, SG (ATL) Anthony Edwards SG, SF (MIN) DeMar DeRozan SF, PF, SG (CHI) Robert Williams III C, PF (BOS)
Tier 7: Draymond Green PF, C (GSW) Jerami Grant SF, PF (DET) Caris LeVert SG, SF (IND) Robert Covington PF, C, SF (POR) Miles Bridges SF, PF (CHA) Kelly Olynyk PF, C (DET) Buddy Hield SG, SF (SAC)&nbsp; Isaiah Stewart PF, C (DET) Andrew Wiggins SG, SF (GSW)&nbsp;
Tier 8: Nickeil Alexander-Walker SG, SF, PG (NOP) Evan Fournier SG, SF (NYK) P.J. Washington PF, C (CHA) Norman Powell SG, SF (POR) Kyle Anderson SF, PF (MEM) Jonathan Isaac SF, PF (ORL) Evan Mobley C, PF (CLE) Larry Nance Jr. PF, C (POR) Harrison Barnes SF, PF (SAC) Mason Plumlee PF, C (CHA) Bobby Portis Jr. PF, C (MIL) De&rsquo;Andre Hunter SF, PF (ATL) Daniel Gafford C, PF (WAS)
Tier 9: Thaddeus Young PF, C, SF (SAS) Joe Ingles SG, SF, PF (UTAH) Lauri Markkanen PF, C (CLE) Joe Harris SG, SF (BKN)&nbsp; Keldon Johnson SF, PF (SAS) Malik Beasley PG, SG, SF (MIN) T.J. Warren SF, PF (IND) Jae'Sean Tate SF, PF (HOU) Daniel Theis PF, C (HOU) Brandon Clarke PF, C (MEM) Saddiq Bey SF (DET)\ Klay Thompson SG, SF (GSW) Derrick Favors C, PF (OKC) Al Horford PF, C (BOS)
Tier 10: Kyle Kuzma SF, PF (WAS) Matisse Thybulle SG, SF (PHI) Nicolas Batum SF, PF, SG (LAC) Derrick Rose PG, SG (NYK) Marcus Morris Sr. PF, C, SF (LAC) Dillon Brooks SG, SF (MEM) Alperen Sengun PF, C (HOU) Tim Hardaway Jr. SG, SF (DAL) Montrezl Harrell PF, C (WAS) Kelly Oubre Jr. SG, SF, PF (CHA) Nerlens Noel PF, C (NYK)&nbsp; Isaiah Roby C, PF (OKC) Kevin Huerter SG, SF (ATL) Khem Birch PF, C (TOR) Aaron Gordon SF, PF (DEN)
Centers
Centers take on added importance in fantasy hoops due to the scarcity. That&rsquo;s part of the reason why Jokic is viewed as the near-unanimous top overall selection in drafts this year.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Last season, Jokic authored a season for the ages. Not only did he score a career-high 26.4 points and rip down 10.8 rebounds per game, but he also dished out an average of 8.3 dimes each night, joining Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average at least 25 points, 10 boards and 8 assists over a season. Incredibly, Jokic tallied a total of 599 assists in 2020-21, which was the third-most in the entire league. Wilt Chamberlain, who led the NBA with 8.6 APG in 1967-68, is the only center to post a higher assist-average over a full season. As a fantasy cherry on top, the Joker proved incredibly durable, appearing in every game last season.
Tier 1: Nikola Jokic PF, C (DEN)
Tier 2: Karl-Anthony Towns C (MIN)
Tier 3: Giannis Antetokounmpo PF, C&nbsp; Joel Embiid PF, C (PHI) Anthony Davis PF, C (LAL)
Tier 4: Nikola Vucevic C (CHI) Domantas Sabonis PF, C (IND) Bam Adebayo PF, C (MIA) Rudy Gobert C (UTAH)
Tier 5: Myles Turner PF, C (IND) Clint Capela C (ATL) Julius Randle PF, C (NYK) Richaun Holmes PF, C (SAC) Deandre Ayton C (PHO) Christian Wood PF, C (HOU)&nbsp; Kristaps Porzingis PF, C (DAL) John Collins PF, C (ATL)
Tier 6: Jaren Jackson Jr. PF, C (MEM) Jusuf Nurkic C (POR) Pascal Siakam PF, C (TOR) Chris Boucher PF, C (TOR)&nbsp; Robert Williams III C, PF (BOS) Jonas Valanciunas C (NOP) Draymond Green PF, C (GSW) Robert Covington PF, C, SF (POR) Jarrett Allen C (CLE) Kelly Olynyk PF, C (DET) Isaiah Stewart PF, C (DET)
Tier 7: P.J. Washington PF, C (CHA) Evan Mobley C, PF (CLE) Mitchell Robinson C (NYK) Larry Nance Jr. PF, C (POR) Jakob Poeltl C (SAS) Wendell Carter Jr. C (ORL) Brook Lopez C (MIL) Mason Plumlee PF, C (CHA) Bobby Portis Jr. PF, C (MIL)
Tier 8: Daniel Gafford C, PF (WAS) Thaddeus Young PF, C, SF (SAS) Lauri Markkanen PF, C (CLE) Daniel Theis PF, C (HOU) Brandon Clarke PF, C (MEM) Ivica Zubac C (LAC) Derrick Favors C, PF (OKC) Al Horford PF, C (BOS)
Tier 9: Marcus Morris Sr. PF, C, SF (LAC) Mo Bamba C (ORL) Montrezl Harrell PF, C (WAS) Thomas Bryant C (WAS) Nerlens Noel PF, C (NYK)&nbsp; Alperen Sengun PF, C (HOU)&nbsp;
Tier 10: Khem Birch PF, C (TOR) Isaiah Roby C, PF (OKC) Andre Drummond C (PHI)&nbsp; Steven Adams C (MEM) Serge Ibaka PF, C (LAC)&nbsp; James Wiseman C (GSW) Naz Reid C (MIN) Marvin Bagley III PF, C (SAC) LaMarcus Aldridge PF, C (BKN) Nicolas Claxton PF, C (BKN) Kevin Love PF, C (CLE) Hassan Whiteside PF, C (UTAH)

Tommy Beer divides the top NBA fantasy guards, forwards and centers into 10 tiers each based on their value.

2021-22 NBA Fantasy Basketball Rankings: 10 tiers for each position

The Minnesota Timberwolves have parted ways with president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, the team announced today.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1440768842641203202?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that Sachin Gupta is set to take over the position on an interim basis while the team conducts a search for a permanent replacement.
According to reports from <a href="https://twitter.com/DaneMooreNBA/status/1440759656578641920?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dane Moore of the Dane Moore Podcast</a> of the Dane Moore Podcast and <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeLFischer/status/1440758240308961280?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report</a>, the new ownership group of Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have candidates in mind for the team's front office moving forward. Moore insists that Gupta is an option internally, though Minnesota would like to land a "top five" candidate to run basketball operations. Fischer suggests that the organization is fond of Philadelphia 76ers general manager Elton Brand.
This is a stunning move at the top of the Wolves' front office. Rosas had spent just two full seasons with Minnesota, where he oversaw the Andrew Wiggins-D'Angelo Russell trade and the selection of Anthony Edwards with the 2020 No. 1 overall pick. It is unclear if the Timberwolves have a replacement lined up.
Minnesota is in the midst of an ownership change, with Lore Alex Rodriguez in line to take the franchise from Glen Taylor in the coming years.
&nbsp;

Rosas had been atop the Wolves' front office for just two full seasons.

Wolves part ways with president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas

Ricky Rubio has been here before.&nbsp;
Maybe not physically in the city of Cleveland, but in the same predicament.
For the fourth time in as many seasons, the 30-year-old will enter training camp playing for a different organization that&rsquo;s trying to show significant growth with its youthful roster, this time around with the Cavaliers. The feeling isn&rsquo;t so unfamiliar for the veteran point guard.
&ldquo;It doesn't help when you don't have stability because your role or your teammates change a lot, so it's a little different,&rdquo; Rubio told reporters in his Cavs introductory press conference. &ldquo;But my experience says that it doesn't matter where you play &mdash; if you play your best, you're gonna have the role you're looking for. So I feel like I can have a good impact right away. I feel like I grew up a lot from the mistakes I did in the past, the things I've learned too as well. So I feel ready for the challenge.&rdquo;
In the middle of playing for his home country of Spain in this past summer&rsquo;s Tokyo Olympics, the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/wolves-dealing-ricky-rubio-2022-pick-to-cleveland-for-taurean-prince" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minnesota Timberwolves traded Rubio to the Cavs for Taurean Prince and a 2022 second-round draft pick</a>.
Between the second and third game of group play, he found out on the morning of Usman Garuba&rsquo;s draft party. Ready to celebrate his teammate getting selected after a good night&rsquo;s rest, Rubio turned his phone on and was immediately bombarded by a plethora of messages, heartfelt goodbyes from Minnesota and welcomes from Cleveland. At the time, a surprised Rubio had to block it out. Spain had to gameplan for Luka Doncic and Slovenia, and competing with the national team was his priority. That doesn&rsquo;t mean it wasn&rsquo;t on his mind, though.
&ldquo;When you get traded, there&rsquo;s a lot going on,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;Especially with a guy with a family, it&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;Where are we going to go, how are we going to do this&rsquo; and all this stuff. At the end of the day, is this going to be the end stop or not?&rdquo;
Being dealt was another thing that added to Rubio&rsquo;s plate. Following what he called a &ldquo;bad year&rdquo; with the Wolves, he was set on standing out on the international stage and carrying that momentum into this NBA season. He referred to his MVP run at the FIBA World Cup in 2019 when Spain won the championship in convincing fashion. Rubio went on to have his &ldquo;best year in the league&rdquo; with the Phoenix Suns after he built his confidence there.&nbsp;
Having just averaged 25.5 points and 6.0 assists on 52.2% from the field (47.8% on threes) over four Olympic games, including a record 38-point outburst against many of his old NBA teammates on Team USA, Rubio is hoping to repeat history with the Cavs in the 2021-22 campaign.
&ldquo;It felt good to play that way, especially after getting traded and all that stuff. You want to show that you're worth it,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;I think I'm on the best momentum I ever had in my career with the national team, and I feel great shape-wise.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was feeling great in Phoenix, and then the pandemic happened, and then kind of hit my routine, kind of hit all the timing&rsquo;s off... But I think I'm back on track, and I feel like I'm in my prime with my career. So I can bring a lot to the table.&rdquo;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vsFMfrxq2eM" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
While he hasn&rsquo;t spoken in-depth with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff quite yet about what the team will ask him to do, in scanning over the Cavs roster, it&rsquo;s become clear to Rubio that he&rsquo;ll be assuming the mentorship role in his next pro stint. (Although he doesn&rsquo;t feel like the old guy yet, he joked: &ldquo;'&rsquo;Damn, I'm gonna play with people who were born in the 2000s.' That's gonna be crazy.&rdquo;)&nbsp;
Rubio enjoys being a wise, seasoned player with a wealth of knowledge to bestow upon the next generation. It&rsquo;s not like he always knew the tricks of the trade; he too had to soak up advice and compete against veterans. Rubio credits longtime international guard and Badalona teammate Elmer Bennett for always challenging him when he first started his pro career. The same goes for Gianluca Basile when he and Rubio were together in Barcelona in 2009.
&ldquo;He's Italian, and the first year I got to Barcelona, we won the Euroleague,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;He came to me like, &lsquo;I'm chasing the Euroleague [title] for 20 years, and you come here at the age of 20 and you win in the first year. That's not easy.&rsquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Then the international team, of course, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, [Juan Carlos Navarro] &mdash; all these guys who won the World Cup in 2006. And I got there in 2008 when I was 17 years old, and in practice, it was amazing just being able to be there.&rdquo;
Just as his vets did with him, Rubio will demand the best out of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Evan Mobley and the like in Cleveland&rsquo;s locker room.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I love it because I'm good at talking to [young players] and letting them know that they are good, but they can be even better. When I was growing up &mdash; I was 16 years old playing professionally here in Spain &mdash; I had some mentors like that, who would challenge me every day saying like, &lsquo;You're good, but you're too young to know what I know.&rsquo; And you have to go through a lot of stuff before you know all the stuff. So I'm trying to give them my experience.&nbsp;
&ldquo;But until they go through that experience, they're not gonna, like, really listen to me. So what I can do is give it to them. And if they take it, it's there for them... A good example this year [is] with Anthony Edwards; I was pulling examples of the league, like Damian Lilliard or other guys who had really good rookie seasons, but they took everything that it takes to be better the year after that. So I'm looking forward to being in the role, and let's see how the young guys really accept the challenge.&rdquo;&nbsp;
"He's the best leader I've been around all my life," Edwards <a href="https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1370417504829472771?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in March</a>.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Lot of people wondered who&rsquo;s gonna be Anthony Edwards vet to teach him the ropes Great to see Rubio coaching Antman up after he made a mistake. <a href="https://t.co/ndA42GNh6c">pic.twitter.com/ndA42GNh6c</a>
&mdash; Barflaan Tedoe 🇱🇷 (@The_Barftender) <a href="https://twitter.com/The_Barftender/status/1348115283207065600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Rubio contends that putting together a better year after having a great season prior is one of the hardest things to accomplish. There&rsquo;s a certain amount of attention and pressure for players in those scenarios due to the expectations stemming from their own doing. Asked how he&rsquo;ll approach this with Garland, a savvy Rubio replied that it will be a test of mentality.
&ldquo;&lsquo;Do I have what it takes to be even better?&rsquo; It takes a lot of energy to have the year that Garland] had last year. He had great numbers, great year. But that can translate to a winning team? [Can that] be translated to help the team to win?&rdquo; Rubio sternly stated. &ldquo;That's what I'm going to have to challenge him [with] in that area. I'm going to bring my experience the same way I did with [Devin] Booker, the same way I did with Donovan Mitchell, the same way I did with the young stars that I had on my team...&rdquo;
These cold-hard truths don&rsquo;t just exist on the individual level either. Entering his 11th season in the NBA, his first as a part of the Eastern Conference, Rubio&rsquo;s seen his fair share of players. It&rsquo;s those that buy into the concept of something bigger than themselves that tend to stick.
&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a lot of talent, but that doesn't make a good team. What makes a good team is putting the pieces together and [making] it work. So we will see how everything works out,&rdquo; Rubio said. &ldquo;And as a veteran, it's part of my job to really make that work. Seeing where and how the young talent has to sacrifice something for the team. Because a lot of people, a lot of players come to the league knowing I can do that, I can do this, I can do a lot of stuff. But at the end of the day, what the team needs from you is what makes sense for the team.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you are a rebounder and you want to score, but your job is to rebound the ball and pass it to another guy, I know you can score &mdash; but at the end of the day, you have to do what's best for the team. And at the same time, the team has to help the other players grow and make the best opportunity for everybody. But at the same time, not everybody can score, not everybody can shine at that level. And I think there's a lot of winning teams that show that the 15th guy has to be the best guy, the best 15th guy in the league to win. That being said, everybody has to have a role and accept the role and be the best they can be in that role. So I'm pretty excited [about] helping this team make that happen.&rdquo;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
It always helps to have a familiar face around to ease the transition. Granted Kevin Love stays with Cleveland and isn&rsquo;t moved or bought out, Rubio will reunite with his former Wolves friend for the first time in eight years. (Rubio has a great deal of respect for him championing mental health and admits that Love&rsquo;s courage to speak up has helped him when he&rsquo;s struggled.)&nbsp;
He crossed paths with Bickerstaff as a rookie in that same Minnesota environment with Love; however, due to Rick Adelman&rsquo;s hiring and the departure of his predecessor Kurt Rambis, it was short-lived. Rubio did receive a vote of confidence from Marc Gasol regarding Bickerstaff, who coached the former All-Star big man during their time together with the Memphis Grizzlies three seasons ago.
Aware that his career clock is ticking, and that his timeline doesn&rsquo;t exactly match Cleveland&rsquo;s, Rubio is honest about his desire to compete for an NBA championship. He understands that there are phases to a professional basketball career. It usually starts with personal stats and evolves into a hunger to win. A player in his position usually doesn&rsquo;t backtrack, particularly reverting to another rebuild. And <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisFedor/status/1435731716874784770?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who's to say he'll even end the season where he starts it</a>?
Rubio knows how much energy and focus it&rsquo;ll take to combat that realization. That&rsquo;s why, as he issues challenges to the others, he&rsquo;s treating this opportunity as one of his own.
"I think one of my main things is I lead by example,&rdquo; Rubio said. So I'm not going to be just talking, talking, talking and sitting on the side saying you have to do that or this. I'm going to be the first one over there in practice, diving on the floor, whatever it takes to really get it going. So I think they expect all that from me, from the conversations I had, and having like a good impact on the team right away...
&ldquo;...[Can] this young team take the next step? I've been on teams that did that, and I've been on teams that haven't done that. So I know things that work and [don't] work, but at the end of the day, every team is different. We have to know each other. We have to go to training camp with that mentality that we want to win every game. But we want to win every day, get better every day.&rdquo;

Ricky Rubio is looking forward to challenging the Cavaliers' youth and himself this upcoming season, writes Spencer Davies.

Ricky Rubio will demand the best out of young Cavs, himself

Heading into the 2021-22 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the NBA&rsquo;s most intriguing teams. They have a solid young nucleus, a new head coach, new ownership, and a tough climb in terms of scaling the ladder in the Western Conference.
With so many teams either in win-now mode, or ascending rapidly thanks to internal development, Minnesota once again could be on the outside looking in for a real playoff opportunity in 2021-22.
In their current state, the T-Wolves have to rely on their 25-and-under trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, D&rsquo;Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards. When all of them were on the floor together last season, Minnesota was 13-11.&nbsp;
In a small sample size (324 minutes) featuring Minnesota's trio, their three-man lineup offensive rating was 120.9, which would&rsquo;ve ranked No. 1 for any team last season. However, the defensive rating checked in at 116.0 &mdash; a mark that puts Minnesota last in the Association for team-wide advanced metrics. Although the overall net rating for Minnesota&rsquo;s young Big 3 still checked in at +5.3, they were relying on outscoring the opposition at a pace that seemed unsustainable over a full 82-game schedule.
Toss starting shooting guard Malik Beasley into the mix &mdash; who has canned 40.6% of his three-pointers since arriving in Minnesota two years ago &mdash; and the total sample size for the four-man unit was 13 minutes. Yes, you read that right, 13 minutes. That's all that Towns, Russell, Edwards and Beasley suited up together for during the 2020-21 campaign.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Minnesota is betting on its young core to take necessary steps forward, but new head coach Chris Finch must also figure out how to utilize his pieces more efficiently. Once Finch replaced Ryan Saunders &mdash; an incredibly tough adjustment coming over from the Toronto Raptors &mdash; Minnesota&rsquo;s offense started to click into high gear. One of the biggest beneficiaries from Finch&rsquo;s arrival was 2020 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards.
Edwards began to turn heads over the final stretch of last season, with many ending the campaign under the belief that he could eventually become a consistent 25-plus point per game scorer. Edwards&rsquo; emergence became one of the few bright spots from another downtrodden season for Minnesota.
Pre-All-Star Break: 14.9 points, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.9 steals; 37.1 FG%, 46.6 TS%
Post-All-Star Break: 23.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals; 45.4 FG%, 56.7 TS%
After the All-Star break, Edwards placed himself in elite company. Only six other players averaged his stat line and efficiency over that span: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum and Julius Randle. During his rookie season at age 19, Edwards put the NBA world on notice; he&rsquo;s one of the brightest young wing scorers.
With Edwards&rsquo; fast rise, another rookie for Minnesota turned into a legitimate rotation piece: No. 28 overall pick Jaden McDaniels. Although McDaniels&rsquo; numbers weren&rsquo;t gaudy &mdash; 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.0 blocks in 24 minutes &mdash; his improvement as a shooter late in the season provides promise for him complementing their core. McDaniels drained 38.3% of his three-pointers after the All-Star break for Minnesota, where he also forced Finch&rsquo;s hand with his plus-defensive versatility. At his peak, McDaniels figures to be a jumbo 3-and-D do-it-all big who doesn&rsquo;t need plays run for him. He's already passed the eye test with flying colors, and now he should slide right in as Minnesota&rsquo;s starting power forward alongside Towns, Russell, Edwards and Beasley.
Minnesota also drafted point-forward Leandro Bolmaro from Argentina in the 2020 draft, who plans to join the roster after being stashed last season overseas. After Ricky Rubio was traded to Cleveland for veteran wing Taurean Prince, Bolmaro figures to play an important role as a playmaker off the bench immediately.
&ldquo;This draft class was a game-changer for this organization,&rdquo; <a href="https://theathletic.com/2738320/2021/08/11/jaden-mcdaniels-is-becoming-the-rare-late-first-round-success-story-for-the-wolves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timberwolves GM Gersson Rosas recently told The Athletic&rsquo;s Jon Krawczynski</a>. &ldquo;When it happens like that, you want to be right more often than you&rsquo;re wrong. And nobody&rsquo;s always right.&rdquo;
With high hopes for the 2020 draft haul helping pull Minnesota into real playoff contention eventually, how does their rotation stack up for 2021-22?
Starters = Russell, Beasley, Edwards, McDaniels, Towns
Second Unit = Bolmaro, Josh Okogie, Jarrett Culver, Prince, Juancho Hernangomez, Naz Reid
Although the starting lineup has huge potential &mdash; especially with the projected sophomore leaps for Edwards and McDaniels &mdash; Minnesota&rsquo;s second-unit is shallow on NBA experience and net-positive players. For the Timberwolves to become a real playoff threat, the Towns/Russell/Edwards trio needs to be dominant. And it&rsquo;s fair to wonder if Edwards needs to become his post-All-Star break self every single night for Minnesota to take those necessary steps forward.
Minnesota&rsquo;s core is locked in for the foreseeable future. Towns and Russell are best friends on-and-off the court and have a bond that developed during the 2015 pre-draft process. But is the former No. 2 overall pick the best fit moving forward with Edwards&rsquo; becoming a real 1B option?
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Moving forward, there&rsquo;s no reason for Minnesota to not treat Edwards as their second star behind Towns. He&rsquo;s already proven to have more two-way ability than Russell, who is an above-average three-level scorer. Still, the point guard has been graded across multiple metrics as the worst defender for his position. For a team starved of impact defenders, Russell is the opposite. He brings scoring and some playmaking, but not much else.
For Towns, the clock is already ticking in Minnesota. He&rsquo;s experienced the playoffs one time in his six-year career after being selected No. 1 overall. And that one appearance was due to Jimmy Butler, who is no longer with the franchise. Towns&rsquo; career record is nearly 100 games below .500 at 185-279. Halfway through his rookie-scale max contract extension &mdash; which expires after the 2023-24 season &mdash; the time is now for Minnesota to put the necessary pieces around him before it&rsquo;s too late.
Edwards feels like a lock to be a key cog in the Timberwolves' rise. McDaniels has shown flashes of a competent frontcourt partner alongside Towns. Questions still loom about Russell&rsquo;s overall value in a winning situation, but right now, Minnesota&rsquo;s roster is still on the youthful side of the spectrum.
Banking on the young core is a necessary risk for a small market like Minnesota, but there needs to be some urgency. If all goes well for the Timberwolves this season, these Towns-related concerns will wash away.
In the end, it'll be determined by whether this appealing core centered around he and Edwards stakes their claim as a rising team in the Western Conference.

The 2021-22 season will be an important one for the Timberwolves. Can they defy the odds and make an improbable run to the postseason?

Edgar