Film Study: Anthony Edwards' development key to Wolves' rising higher
Check out Edwards' top slams of 2023-24, which served as punctuation marks to the Timberwolves' breakthrough season.
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Anthony Edwards was the leading scorer on a team that reached the Western Conference Finals. Then he was an integral part of the United States winning its fifth straight Olympic gold medal.
He’s still just 23 years old, with more room to grow. If Edwards can continue to improve his playmaking skills and scoring efficiency, the Timberwolves could reach the NBA Finals for the first time in history.
Here are some numbers and film about Edwards’ offensive game and where it could go next.
1. More control of the offense, more attention in the playoffs
Edwards, unsurprisingly, has taken on a greater role in the Wolves’ offense with each passing season. He’s also had the ball more in the playoffs than he’s had it in the regular season. He saw a much bigger postseason jump in time of possession last season than he did in the previous two.
Anthony Edwards time of possession
| Reg. season | Playoffs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | MIN | TOP | TOP% | MIN | TOP | TOP% |
| 2020-21 | 32.1 | 3.3 | 10.3% | Not in 2021playoffs | ||
| 2021-22 | 34.2 | 4.3 | 12.6% | 37.8 | 4.9 | 13.0% |
| 2022-23 | 36.1 | 4.7 | 13.0% | 39.7 | 5.8 | 14.6% |
| 2023-24 | 35.1 | 5.0 | 14.2% | 40.5 | 7.7 | 19.0% |
MIN = Minutes per game on the floor
TOP = Minutes per game with possession
TOP% = Percentage of minutes on floor with possession
According to Second Spectrum tracking, the Wolves set 48 ball screens per 100 possessions for Edwards in the 2024 playoffs, up from 35 per 100 in the regular season. That’s a huge jump.
It seemed to work for the Wolves, who were one of only three teams — the Knicks and Sixers were the others — that scored more efficiently in the playoffs (114.8 points scored per 100 possessions, sixth) than they did in the regular season (114.6, 17th).
Part of that was Edwards scoring more efficiently, registering a true shooting percentage of 59.8%, up from 57.5% in the regular season. (He’s scored more efficiently in the playoffs than in the regular season in the last three seasons.)
But while his time of possession was up dramatically, Edwards’ usage rate (the percentage of the Wolves’ possessions he ended with a shot, turnover or trip to the line) was lower in the playoffs (28.9%) than it was in the regular season (31.4%).
While the Wolves set more ball screens for Edwards, he was more likely to pass after using those screens. That was mostly because, in the playoffs, opposing defenses are more diligent about getting the ball out of the best player’s hands …
When Edwards shot out of the pick-and-roll in the playoffs, he wasn’t very efficient, scoring just 0.89 points per possession, a rate which ranked 13th among 17 players with at least 50 ball-handler possessions in the postseason, according to Synergy tracking.
2. Missing from mid-range
That pick-and-roll inefficiency was despite Edwards shooting much better from mid-range (30-for-64, 46.9%) than he did in the regular season.
In the regular season, Edwards took 19% of his shots from mid-range (between the paint and the 3-point line), a rate which ranked 23rd among 261 players with at least 300 total field goal attempts. But his 35.1% shooting from mid-range ranked last among the 26 players with at least 200 mid-range attempts.
While Edwards’ field goal percentage in the paint has improved every season and while he’s been an average 3-point shooter over the last three years, he’s remained relatively ineffective on pull-up jumpers inside the arc. He ranked 11th with 382 pull-up 2-point attempts last season but was the only guy in the top 24 to shoot under 40% on them.
Edwards’ pull-up form doesn’t look particularly shaky, but it also doesn’t always look the same …
Edwards would probably benefit from more consistency with his shooting form and/or more economy of movement. With how most bigs defend most pick-and-rolls these days (dropping back into the paint), going from 35% to just league average (42%) from mid-range would make a huge difference for both Edwards and the Wolves.
3. More playmaking … from the post?
Edwards has seen jumps in both assists per game and assist ratio (the percentage of his possessions where he recorded an assist) every season he’s been in the league.
Both numbers were even higher in the 2024 playoffs, in part because of the way Edwards was defended. He’s not the most advanced passer, but he can make good reads on drives …
Edwards also posted up more in the playoffs (1.5 times per game) than he did in the regular season (1.1), according to Second Spectrum. That’s not a lot, but post-ups can also be an effective way to bend a defense and create open shots.
The four players who defended Edwards the most in the playoffs were all at least 10 pounds lighter than him. So he was able to take them into the post and draw double-teams, opening up opportunities for his teammates …
It was a small sample size, but the Wolves scored efficiently (1.18 points per chance) when Edwards posted up in the playoffs. Spacing could be an issue when Rudy Gobert is on the floor, but Edwards in the post could be something they continue to explore as they try to stay at the top of the Western Conference this season.
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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