WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 11:56 am
Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 11:05 am
A couple things that I think get lost a little bit on Edwards:
I improved again this year. He was more efficient while in some cases taking less efficient shots than he did making him a more diverse scorer. He did that the previous year becoming one of the best 3 point shooters in the league. He increased his FTA by 1 a game. He scored more point this year taking less shots all while in some cases having to do more on offense than he did in previous seasons. He improved again and has pretty much every season.
His ability to return from injury when he could have been like no I'll make a business decision and wait it out. That is no small thing and shows the guy wants to play. Jon K wrote an article about all he did to make it happen and suggested these injuries he had might be the thing that is the lightbulb moment for Edwards to start doing all the things to get his body right that he didn't do before because...well it didn't seem like he needed to.
So Edwards still is on an upwards trajectory while there are absolutely flaws in his game and other considerations as well. Will he step up and become a more consistent defender? He absolutely has the potential to be an all NBA team guy. Will he lock in on what's important on and off the court? Will he improve his BBIQ? Will the Wolves make some moves this off-season to help facilitate these things? Adding the right ball handlers and player makers and "connective tissue" as Finch described it could help. What is Edwards working on this off-season? It seems like he has accomplished his task each off-season that is set out for him.
I don't know if I'd call it improving if he's trading one skill for another.
His scoring and methods to score have improved, but it's come at the expense of his defense to where it's tough to call him a two way player. It would help if someone offensively helped take the load off of him (think of how Brunson is the lead guy in the 4th quarter, but OG was there to help score and over the course of the season, their guys were there to make timely shots. This team just needs a reliable 2nd guy to not make everything come down to whether Ant makes a long distance shot.
Ant is a complex player for sure, and that's why a frank discussion of his positive areas and his negative areas is helpful in understanding where this team is right now...even if some posters are uncomfortable with any criticism of our highest paid player(not an unusual thing for a typical fan...we once had a poster here who would practically have a conniption fit if anyone dared to criticize DLo!)). There's no question that Ant improved in some areas this season, and also no question with most analysts that follow the team that certain aspects of his game got worse. For those who value VORP as a good indicator of value, his dropped from 4.6 to 3.5 (much of that can be attributed to playing fewer games, but his VORP/game still decreased...and I want a player his age to improve each year in his overall game).
Improved areas :
Clutch play: Ant has struggled in this area, but really showed improvement early in the season (despite seeming to revert closer to the mean late in the season). I don't have the data, but I have to believe his clutch shooting percentage for the season increased nicely, and that's important for a guy who wants to take the last shot.
Midrange game: While some coaches and players hate the midrange game (has Naz ever taken one?), Ant called it out as an area he wanted to improve in over the summer. And he did...58% of his shots this season were 2-pointers compared to only 49.7% last season, and more importantly his shooting percentage on 2's went from 50% to 55%, with every specific category showing improvement. As a result, even though coaches preach "3's and free's" as the path to shooting efficiency, Ant's TS% improved from 59.5 to a career best 61.7.
Leadership: While I still want Ant to exhibit the maturity and gravitas of leaders like Brunson and SGA, there were reports that he improved in this area...more vocal in huddles, for instance. I think he is going to continue to improve in this area as he matures.
Areas where he got worse:
Defense: I don't know one analyst that follows the Wolves closely that didn't think Ant was much worse on defense this season. Some of it was effort, and some of it was just not paying attention in help defense. This is an area that really frustrates fans like me who want the Wolves to be better, because unlike a guy like Jalen Brunson, Ant seems to have all the tools to be a plus defender...he just went in the wrong direction this season.
Doing what the coaches want: How many times did we hear Rudy or Finchy, or even Ant himself, say "the coaches put together a good game plan...we just didn't follow it"? So frustrating for us fans after a loss, and even more so for the coaches. I think we all agree that players win games for the most part, not coaches. But the Knicks are a terrific example of how a team can improve if the coaches suggest a different style and the players follow it. Can Ant do this? Time will tell, I guess.
Getting back to the thread theme, yes...a team can win without a top 5 player. I would argue that not only do the Knicks not have a top 5 player, they don't have a player with the potential to be a top 5 2-way player...and yet they won a chip. The frustrating thing for me is that Ant has the potential to be a top 5 guy, but is still far from getting there. And it would be easier for the Wolves to win a chip if Ant did improve enough to be a top 5 guy.