Timberwolves are putting the BB into Anthony Edwards hands

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have stumbled onto a discovery that could alter the course of the team’s future. Of course, it may be a passing phase for the team, a temporary blip to get this roster through a tough trial of battered and bruised players. After all, with both Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert on the bench due to injuries, this is not exactly a team struggling with how to get two bigs to coexist on the basketball court simultaneously.

This is a team fighting to survive without either stepping only the basketball court.

The transformation began in December 2022, when point guard D’Angelo Russell discussed his field general role with Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch and the fact that D’Lo struggles with his own game whenever he tries to hold everyone accountable on the basketball court. That resulted in the team freeing up Russell, and repurposing those point guard duties to Point Forward Kyle Anderson.

That was an improvement, setting Russell free to score at will. But it was not quite . . . there.  But it did start the wheels of change into motion. And so, if Kyle Anderson, a.k.a. Slo-Mo, could handle those duties, why not the team’s best remaining healthy player?

PG Anthony Edwards, SG D’Angelo Russell?

And so, Anthony Edwards stepped up in December  2022 as well. In the same span when D’Angelo Russell began to dominate in scoring, Anthony Edwards began to dominate in other ways:

Anthony Edwards can see the game differently after playing point guard recently

This is the type of player he wants to see

“I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball.” pic.twitter.com/1oUE1f02SV

— Jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) December 19, 2022

Until the Timberwolves entered December 2022, Anthony Edwards averaged approximately 4.0 assists per game. But without D’Lo handling the role, and Anderson doing his best in his rotations, the team was still in need of a second PG when Anderson was not on the floor. Would the role revert to D’Lo again? That would be counterproductive.

New roles, same great Timberwolves backcourt

And so, the Timberwolves stumbled into these new roles.  We have witnessed how effective the changes have made Russell. But has Edwards suffered from his enhanced responsibility?

Anthony Edwards on sharing playmaking duties w/ D’Angelo Russell lately:

“DLo’s a great shooter, man… So I just tell him, breh, let me just bring it up and initiate the offense. Just be right there, catch and shoot,…