Chance Edwards becomes an All Star in a Wolves uniform

[TheFuture]

What can we learn from the Wiggins fiasco? Don't hand Edwards a damn thing. Make him beat out the competition for playing time or starters minutes. Would it look bad on Rosas if he's not starting? Too effing bad. No coddling these players. Make him earn it if he wants it. If he wants to ride the bench so be it.

Exactly. That is the culture we need to begin to cultivate.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What can we learn from the Wiggins fiasco? Don't hand Edwards a damn thing. Make him beat out the competition for playing time or starters minutes. Would it look bad on Rosas if he's not starting? Too effing bad. No coddling these players. Make him earn it if he wants it. If he wants to ride the bench so be it.

Exactly. That is the culture we need to begin to cultivate.

Hard to disagree with this take.

If you see his highlights, the combination of skills and athleticism is off the charts. But that doesn't mean much if you decide to take a bunch of plays off every game and throw up crazy-difficult shots early in the shot clock. He absolutely should be on a tight leash early on.

We've coddled Wiggins and now KAT (on the defensive end) and paid the price for it. But those guys were also clearly needed from Day One for us to score any points. Not the case with Edwards. He's an offensive-oriented player being drafted by a highly skilled offensive-oriented team. He's a 4th option, 3rd option at best coming into camp. That's perfectly fine for a 6th or 7th man.

[Monster]

Here is a video of Crean talking to Media the Thursday after the draft. I think there is some good stuff in there even if you don't take everything he says as absolute truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc17LlkncJI

I finally watched this. Thanks for posting, Monster. Two comments from Crean stood out for me as particularly encouraging.

One comment was in response to a question about the advice Crean would give Edwards. Crean said he'd advise Edwards to be patient. That that wasn't what stood out. What stood out was Crean saying that Edward's needs to be patient because: "He's a very aggressive, get after it, being in the gym guy who wants success right now." That doesn't sound like a player who lacks competitive drive. And I never heard anyone refer to Wiggins that way.

Here's the other comment that stood out: "In 20 years as a head coach I've never had a guy spend more time in the gym after games than he [Edwards] did."

I understand that a college head coach will always promote his top players publicly. It's part of what helps them sell their programs to the next group of top high school recruits. But Tom didn't have to throw out those superlatives, especially after his player has already been drafted at the top of the draft.

There are also some other things there. Tom continues to emphasize the need to give Edwards lots of attention and teaching. He emphasized that Edwards will need to learn to be a professional. Perhaps that's something you'd expect to hear from anyone commenting on a 19-year old who's about to be multi-million dollar player on the national stage. However, I can envision very different comments about other past and present draft prospects -- comments like, "just give him a ball and show him where the gym is and he'll deliver." My sense is that, while a hard worker, Edwards needs to be watched, pushed and held accountable. That's OK if he truly loves the game, competes and really is a "very aggressive, get after it, being in the gym guy who wants success right now."

Crean continues to really talk about Edwards positively as a person. It seems while somewhat guarded Edwards is going to show some personality. Wiggins is well liked by his teammates but does anyone here really get the sense of who Wiggins is as a person? I don't and Im one of the biggest Wiggins fans here.

As for Edwards needing direction...it doesn't seem like THAT bad of a thing. He just turned 19.Young guys need direction. It may not be the right spot for him but you could tell Crean liked the situation with Ryan and the coaching staff. Ryan is a guy thats going to work directly with players on the floor and connect with them personally. Its not hard to see the difference between him and say Thibs or some other coaches in the league. Ryan (I'm sure other coaches would do this too) will be quite involved with him*. The coaching staff is younger guys that can get up and down with guys. Again we don't know if that will work but Crean seems to think this group will be good for Edwards. If Crean knows what makes Edwards tick that's one more person than the people knows what in the hell makes Andrew Wiggins tick. NOBODY seems to know what makes that dude tick including Andrew Wiggins.

The being patient part was interesting because Crean again referenced Edwards being a great teammate and focusing on being happy for the success of others. I'm watching for that whatever role Edwards plays this year and as I watch some of his highlights and college games. Crean also mentioned patience because Edwards may not be ready with the unique draft and start with little time to get ready. Months ago when considering Edwards an option I really thought a bench role could be good for him. The Wolves can tell him Harden begin his HOF career coming off the bench. Some guy named Kevin McHale did too. =) Like others have said if he has to earn his way that might not be a bad thing. Ideally Culver will have progressed enough that he really pushes Edwards and vice a versa.

I thought Crean talking about his relationship with Wade and Dipo and the sort of following he has with all his guys from his coaching experience was kinda neat and obviously a play for recruiting but I'm sure to some extent its real. I can see why Edwards would have liked the idea of playing for Crean in his home state. Basically getting a direct line to Wade ain't a bad deal as a part of going to a school.

I thought Crean shared some things to make me feel better about the pick and some things for me to watch with Edwards going forward because of what Crean said.

EDIT: * Just to clarify just because Thibs or someone like say D'Antoni or some other vet coach not working directly with a young player a lot doesn't mean they are bad. That's why team have developmental coaches etc. No coach is good at everything and even if they were they need to have help anyway. there are more than one way to approach how you do things it doesn't mean one is good and one is bad.

[Monster]

I just watched this full game below of Georgia vs Kentuky here are some thoughts.

Edwards does get down in a stance and plays up on his man a few times in this game. How many times have we seen Wiggins actually do that? The bad new is Edwards is a bad defender. he opens up when on the ball and lets gets beat him to the rim. He is not good in the team scheme either often in no man's land. He certainly has the physcial potential to be a good defender but its mental. He got switched onto a big a couple times and they didn't move him at all. one time he got a block when the guy went for the shot but he swiped down so he got called for the foul. I don' think the guy had much of a chance to score if he had just stayed straight up but I'm not gonna knock edwards for that play.

Edwards has instances where his athletic ability REALLY pops. one time he was posting up and the guy threw him the ball and he went up for it and it was so quicka nd he was way up there and he then scored easily. He had a couple rebounds where he really got up for them too.

Im interested to see what kind of passing we may see out of Edwards. in another game highlights he showed the ability ot make an unexpected cross court pass right on the money with 2 hands and these were passes where they were lower off the dribble passes. He really seems able to flick the ball to where he wants it to go with thtat type of pass and in a few cases I have seen accurately.

I was watching to see if Edwards was engaging with teammates etc. He was up off the bench waving a towel etc when a teammate made a terrific drive and finish at the rim. he certainly doesn't seem like a loner. His defense is bad but he is often clearly communicating to teammates about switching etc which looked like their plan whether he was in the game or not. He gets excited when he makes a play.

Edwards was really rolling the first half and was making some outside jumpers but inthe 2nd half late he was taking some bad shots. The offense was not really doing anything and UK probably had something to do with that. Edwards started attaching more when the game was basically over but there was time wherehe didn't do much. Was that because he floated? was that because he was playing what was being called by the offense? idk probably all of the above. He went to the basket though some throughout the game it wasn't all just jumpers. the guy can and does pull up from pretty deep and it looks easy for him. It really does feel like working more on his shot and a big emphasis on shot selection and he could be a good 3 point shooter. Its not certain but I like his chances and I've learned to be more skeptical the last few years on these things.

One thing Wiggins showed in his NBA career is being able to execute some nice basket cuts. I think Edwards has this in his bag he din't show it off a ton in this game but he did get a guy once in the first half if I remember right.

Overall this was a fun game to watch. Edwards is certainly a nice prospect even with his flaws. The defense is my main concern. Can he get it? Do we have anyone that can actually teach him? Getting 2 way players is hard.

Speaking of defense Hagens is a legit high level defender. He had a number of steals, deflections and single handedly breaking up fast break opportunities. His shot did not look good and he blew at least 2 layups but the defense speed and physical ability should make you happy to have him on a 2-way contract. He also had some nice passes.

Maxey had a nice all around games with points assists and rebounds. He looks like a pretty damn good value for the 21st pick in the draft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBQlaB3W10

[Lipoli390]

What can we learn from the Wiggins fiasco? Don't hand Edwards a damn thing. Make him beat out the competition for playing time or starters minutes. Would it look bad on Rosas if he's not starting? Too effing bad. No coddling these players. Make him earn it if he wants it. If he wants to ride the bench so be it.

Exactly. That is the culture we need to begin to cultivate.

Hard to disagree with this take.

If you see his highlights, the combination of skills and athleticism is off the charts. But that doesn't mean much if you decide to take a bunch of plays off every game and throw up crazy-difficult shots early in the shot clock. He absolutely should be on a tight leash early on.

We've coddled Wiggins and now KAT (on the defensive end) and paid the price for it. But those guys were also clearly needed from Day One for us to score any points. Not the case with Edwards. He's an offensive-oriented player being drafted by a highly skilled offensive-oriented team. He's a 4th option, 3rd option at best coming into camp. That's perfectly fine for a 6th or 7th man.

I agree that the Wolves should hold Edwards accountable in a way we never saw with KAT and Wiggins on the chance it might make a significant difference in his development. Of course, the key to holding a young NBA player accountable is a team's willingness to deny playing time and the Wolves are uniquely well positioned to do that because the team already has a couple of all-stars and a lot of depth at Edwards' position. Most teams that have the top pick in the draft don't have that luxury because they're typically at the beginning of a rebuild and need to put that player on the floor at least for sake of the fans - like the Wolves when the brought in KAT and Wiggins.

Having said all that, I think accountability or "player development" ultimately plays a minor role in the success of a high draft pick with star potential. The picks with elite potential who eventually reach that potential are invariably driven from within and hold themselves accountable in my view. I think of current and past high draft picks who became stars like LeBron James, James Harden, Giannis, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Luka, Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, MJ, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Doctor J, etc. None of these guys needed to be parked on the bench for any stretch of time to hold them accountable or facilitate their development. On the flip side, it didn't take long for guys like Anthony Bennett, Kandiman and other draft busts to lose playing time early in their careers; yet they nevertheless because busts. If you're highly competitive and are driven to win, you won't need to face the prospect of sitting on the bench to motivate your effort or improvement. And if you lack that intense competitiveness and drive to win, I don't think the prospect of sitting on the bench will make a meaningful difference. Players like that are probably pretty content to take the money, party and coast until they fizzle out.

[Crazysauce]

Heres another nice video on Edwards.

https://youtu.be/YL5tI0q8fXI

[Lipoli390]

Heres another nice video on Edwards.

https://youtu.be/YL5tI0q8fXI

Nice video. Thanks for posting. There's no denying his incredible talent - superstar level talent. He's not just a physical freak; he also has nice skills. The only question with him is whether he has the drive and motor to reach his potential. There are some reasons to believe he doesn't, but there is also a basis for believing he does. Another thing is that the more I watch him, the more I like him. He smart and really self-away. He also has an engaging personality that really draws you in. I really want him to succeed - not just for the Wolves sake but for his.

[Monster]

On Wolfson's last podcast (it was really long with a lot of guests so I cant remember now who it was) someone mentioned when talking about draft prospects that they think Edwards is clearly a better prospect than Markelle Fultz was at #1. That sounded too easy to say at this point. This afternoon I happened to think about that a little more and...that draft wasn't exactly one with guys everyone was blown away at the top. Fultz was a guy I had (And most everyone else) at the top but I also had some legit questions about him especially Defensively even though he had nice size and length and plenty of athletic ability. I thought he was the best talent but I really wasn't all in on him. Many draft people were sort of all over the place on Tatum. I had Fox ahead of Ball. I still can't figure out why people were so willing to draft Josh Jackson so high although he might be coming around now to being worthwhile player.

That draft has produced some really nice players starting with Tatum at #3. I remember the takes by folks questioning whether Tatum was going to be a good 3 point shooter. I always found that confusing In light of his solid 3 point shooting his one year of college coming of an injury and his terrific FT shooting. My hesitation was whether or not he was a wing or a PF. If he was able to be a wing I thought he was going to be at least pretty good. I thought he was not going to be a PF he just didn't have that in him. Now Tatum is a 40% 3 point shooter for his NBA career which it really something.

That draft wasn't that long ago. Will there be something unfortunate happen to a player in this draft like Fultz? Will a guy or 2 fulfill some kinda obvious promise in part of his game? Who will really surprise?

Personally I think the more in consider it I think Edwards is likely to be an effective 3 point shooter. It looks good, he is comfortable taking deep 3's and yes shot selection will help. I'm not saying he is going to go Jason Tatum and hit 40% but I feel good about his shot even if it's obviously not certain. I'm more worried about whether or not he gets it in multiple ways. His athletic abilities and skill base are a pretty good starting point. It's gonna be an interesting draft and I think once again as in 2017 it will be interesting to look back at who did well especially at the PG position.

[BloopOracle]

I know he compares to Wiggins in some ways effort wise but every video I've seen including his social media shows a charismatic guy who can light up a room, he's very fiery at times as well. Drastically different personalities with both having effort issues. Hopefully this one goes our way this time!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I know he compares to Wiggins in some ways effort wise but every video I've seen including his social media shows a charismatic guy who can light up a room, he's very fiery at times as well. Drastically different personalities with both having effort issues. Hopefully this one goes our way this time!

I think he's at a higher-level skills wise with his handles and passing. One thing about Wiggins is that even though he wasn't a good defender, I don't think he was ever as bad as Edwards showed at Georgia.

And I agree that we have to divorce personality from effort level - two different things. I could care less that Edwards is fun and easy to be around. Show you care on the basketball floor by getting into a stance and defending more than one or two plays a game.