Anthony Edwards is virtually guaranteed to get a full max extension from the Timberwolves this summer, but he tells Chris Hine of The Star-Tribune that money isn’t what motivates him. Edwards said he’s more focused on working to improve his game and earning recognition as one of the league’s top players.
“I’m ready to play. I’m not even — that’s cool. The money cool,” he said. “But I love the game of basketball. I don’t do it for the money. I do it because I just want to be known who they say, ‘He was a great player.'”
The 21-year-old shooting guard already has the look of a franchise player. He made his first All-Star appearance this year and posted his best NBA season, averaging career highs with 24.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. At a press conference following Minnesota’s first-round playoff loss, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly indicated the organization will try to add players who fit well around Edwards.
The early playoff exit left Edwards disappointed, as did the feeling that the Wolves suffered too many losses during the season because of poor late-game execution. He plans to become more assertive in those situations, adding that “making the right play is me taking the shot” unless he’s double teamed.
Edwards tells Hine that he’ll prepare for that responsibility by getting in “better shape than everybody else in the league.” He plans to spend much of the offseason in Minnesota, where he’ll train with defensive standout Jaden McDaniels and other teammates such as Josh Minott and Wendell Moore Jr. as he tries to improve his shooting touch under duress.
Edwards already has a clear example of what he hopes to accomplish.
“It’s really about just keeping your composure while you’re going up through your shot,” he said. “I sometimes try to rush my shot once I see it’s heavily contested, but I still can get it off in time. I got to learn how to keep my composure. Kind of like how Luka Doncic never rushes his shot no matter how close the defense is. I started to learn that as we were longer into the season.”
Edwards also stated that he was able to “figure out” how to maximize Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns late in the season. The pairing of the two big men got off to an awkward start, and their progress was delayed due to Towns’ extended absence with a calf injury.
Edwards added that along with a possible FIBA World Cup appearance this summer, he plans to fly to France to work with Gobert on their screen-and-roll combination.
“Man, I love Rudy. Me and Rudy got a great understanding,” Edwards said. “We talk all the time, and I think he can get a lot better as far as catching the ball, jump hooking. I tell him all the time, like ‘Rudy, I’m (going to) throw you the ball every time. I want you to jump hook or money dunk on somebody,’ and he be like, ‘I got you.’ This summer we’re going to get together and work on it. … He told me to trust him, and I started trusting him and giving it to him and he’s making the right play. Shout-out to him, he kept making the right play in the pocket whether he was finishing or kicking it out.”
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