r/nba • u/catreyka • 1d ago
Anthony Edwards on his true role in the league and how it feels to play with LaMelo Ball: "I feel like I'm a natural two-guard at heart. I never thought I could develop any point-guard skills. I know Finchy harps on me passing the ball, but now we got LaMelo, so I'm happy."
https://streamable.com/ji9qm3562
u/suavaleesko 1d ago
Aye this just might work?
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u/99Sold 1d ago
If you ignore the fact Ball averages 40 games played a season
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u/wilgetdownvoted 1d ago
He played 70+ games last season I'm hopeful🤞
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u/Lurching Lakers 1d ago
That's what they were counting on when they put him on the trade market
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 18h ago
It's kinda funny that we're gonna arguing "they traded him cause he can't stay healthy" vs. "he was healthy last season" until the playoffs.
(unless he gets hurt for an extended time right away 🫣 )
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u/99Sold 1d ago
Yea fair. But honestly I think that’s a big reason the Hornets traded him. Selling high on his health because they don’t trust his body can keep up
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u/uFFxDa Timberwolves 23h ago
But maybe not being the only guy on the court n means he can take it 90% sometimes and not 125% all the time.
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u/maltiepootietang Hornets 23h ago
Thats exactly why it worked last season. Adding Kon Kneuppel, Brandon Miller healthy for most of the season, and bringing in Coby White allowed Melo to feel like he didnt have to do everything himself.
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u/Jacob_toasted Timberwolves 22h ago
Ant’s also gotten worn down in the playoffs, they should help each other
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 18h ago
I get that conditioning and health are important to sports, but it really annoys me that the playoffs have become a test of endurance rather than a test of skill.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Hornets 13h ago
He’s been hurt every year of his career even when he had talented teams around him. His rookie year he had several players ahead of him and still faced an injury that derailed his season. His injuries aren’t because of his work load at all in the sense of responsibility. It does have some correlation with how many mins he played, which in theory could be limited on deeper/better teams.
But even with that I don’t necessarily think Minnesota is super deep per se.
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u/BetweenTheBuzzAndMe Charlotte Bobcats 1d ago
that's 40 more games of deploying Ant the way you want him deployed, than you had before ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Shaymuswrites 18h ago
The Wolves are definitely betting on their medical/training staff to make 65+ games the norm. Will it work? We'll find out. They've got a pretty good injury track record the last half-decade though.
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u/Sharcbait Timberwolves 16h ago
Also the Hornets have a TERRIBLE injury record. Ball, Mark Williams, Grant Williams Miller, Hayward... it wasn't a 1 man issue, so is it a team strength and conditioning team sucks? Team is employing Dr. Nick from the Simpsons or some bullshit.
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u/Smitty_Agent89 Hornets 13h ago
Yeah I mean all the players you named have been injury prone for the entire career besides Grant Williams, and Grant Williams tore his ACL so it’s kind of hard to blame the training staff for that unless he was predisposed to it.
Gordon Hayward has been injury prone his entire career even before CHA. Mark Williams has had horrible injury issues for years now that caused the lakers to nix a trade and even now he’s dealt with injuries in PHX and plays low mins.
Ball and Miller are also guys who simply have had too many injuries to chalk it all up to the coaching staff. Both guys have just had some bad luck and appear to be a bit injury prone.
Also hornets have a completely new coaching staff from a few year ago with the new FO anyway.
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u/chillPenguin17 1d ago
Ayo is an excellent fill in if he does
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u/99Sold 1d ago
Wolves have titles aspirations. They definitely need Ball to go where they want to go
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u/Odoaiden Timberwolves 23h ago
Ya they need ball healthy for the playoffs but Ayo can keep the regular season wins up
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u/StarofRuin011 23h ago
He was on a poverty franchise that wasn’t trying to rush him back for better lottery picks
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u/Sharcbait Timberwolves 16h ago
I am curious how he holds up now he is off Charlotte too. ALL the Hornets have a hard time staying healthy. Mark Williams, Ball, Brandon Miller, Gordon Hayward, the list goes on and on. Do they just have a scouting department who ignores any injury red flags, or is it a strength and conditioning problem?
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u/PointGodAsh Timberwolves 1d ago
The desire for him to develop in that capacity was largely based on extreme need, though it obviously doesn't fit his game. I'm glad we have Melo to direct the offense so Ant can get back to what he does best.
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 1d ago
I'm sure at least PART of that desire was also to open up his game even more, cause if ant could figure out how to pass with the best of them, he'd be 10x the monster he already is.
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u/FeanorEvades Timberwolves 23h ago
Part of the problem is that Ant improves his skills by learning from players he trains with. His shooting took a leap while working with Curry/Durant on Team USA. His individual defensive technique improved a lot when we got Rudy.
We’ve never had an individual playmaker on the team that passes like LaMelo. I’m optimistic that Ant’s passing ability will improve purely by having an elite passer on the court with him that he can compare to and learn from. He’ll never be a LeBron/Jokic/Luka level playmaker, but 60% of that would be more than enough.
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u/lbutler1234 United States 20h ago
So you're saying the wolves should've gone hard after Chris Paul?
(Why he want to the indignancy of them clips is beyond me.)
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u/Quirky-Skin 1d ago
Absolutely. Can't collapse on him headed to the paint if he's a willing passer to the perimeter.
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u/PointGodAsh Timberwolves 22h ago
For sure! I just think being at that level is so intuitive and hard to achieve, even with people who have been trying their entire careers. He's better at passing out of doubles now which was a huge step. At this point, to me, anything extra is gravy.
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u/ShylockTheGnome 23h ago
The problem is also now having to dedicate so much cap space towards guards which has left little cap space to improve the front court. It’s basically a gamble that giving up size for passing will make the offense so much better and Rudy can hopefully cover up any defensive issues. Not a bad bet, but if Ant could play the 1, they could have gotten someone cheap at the 2 and put more capital towards a front court.
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u/PointGodAsh Timberwolves 22h ago
From my fuzzy recollection of this FA period, I don't really remember any other position having many players we had a real shot at unless we had a bunch of money to throw. I don't think there was a chance we completely rounded out the roster, so I'm okay with saying forget it and trying to have a super potent offense.
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u/ShylockTheGnome 22h ago
I think it’s a worth it risk too. They needed a pg and there just wasn’t a good one for cheap. The dream scenario was obviously dillingham being the cheap pg to replace conely. It failed and this is probably the best move available.
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u/Whittaker Australia 17h ago
I always thought they should've gone after Giddey when he was going on the market. He would've been a great fit with being a facilitating point, good size to fit their defense, would've gladly taken any mentoring Conley would've provided and doesn't demand that large of a contract to work around.
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u/HokageEzio Knicks 1d ago
That's why I like the move for Minnesota. Divo and Ant just are not point guards no matter how much you try to force it.
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 1d ago
This is also why I'm not tooooo harsh on trading up for Dillingham.
A pass-first playmaker has been what this team needs, just swung on the wrong one.
I'm hoping this will be like when we traded for Rudy. The league was completely baffled but Wolves fans had been dying for a defensive big to put behind KAT for years at that point. Then we went into our best stretch of basketball in history.
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u/NAW_MIP_2026 Hawks 20h ago
It's just terrible process to try and trade UP into a historically terrible draft.
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u/KennyKettermen Timberwolves 20h ago
Don’t hate em for taking a big swing but really bummed it didn’t pan out
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u/seventeenweewees Timberwolves 15h ago
Dillingham was not a starter on Kentucky.
Dillingham was not a point guard on Kentucky.
Dillingham had a horrible busted ass jumper on Kentucky.
So yeah I didn't like the pick.
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u/HughManatee Timberwolves 22h ago
He also unlocks lobs to Gobert and hopefully Beringer. I hope Ant develops Steph's off-ball tenacity with all the energy he's going to save not having to drive the ball up the court every possession.
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u/NAW_MIP_2026 Hawks 20h ago
Honestly it would probably be better if Ant just put that effort into defence instead. Between him and Lamelo the offence will be amazing, if he can lock in more consistently on defence the team could really take a leap on that end. Rudy/McDaniels with Ant/Ayo as a secondary or tertiary POA defender is the best path towards being top 5 offence/defence in the league imo.
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u/BetweenTheBuzzAndMe Charlotte Bobcats 1d ago
on the court, this duo is a match made in heaven. Purely seeing it from Melo's point of view, you basically couldn't craft a better SG to play next to him than Ant without that SG looking like MJ lol
I'm beyond stoked for those two.
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u/LaMelonBallz Hornets 19h ago
I feel the exact same way.
DHO spam heaven.
No doubles.
And drive lanes for days.
Rudy is about to feast.
Still sad/mad af but I'm psyched for him and Ant
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u/Icy_Information_6563 Suns 1d ago
The big thing about this is it gives him some energy back to focus on defense. It's really fucking hard to be the primary ball handler and also play defense at full tempo.
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u/Careless-Journalist7 Wizards 1d ago
I like this. Every one wants to be some kind of point guard/forward nowadays.. there’s nothing wrong with just being a shooting guard who is an efficient scoring outlet
This is how the Suns need to build around Devin Booker, get him an actual pg to play with
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u/Kiriegloom Bulls 4h ago
Everyone wants to be a ball handler because that's statistically who the best players are. There have only been three MVPs in the last 20 years that haven't fit the PG/F archetype. Kobe, KD, and Embiid
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u/StarofRuin011 23h ago
If Lamelo could boost Kon to have a 7% better shooting percentage with him on the floor, then Ant could definitely replicate something similar boost or potentially shoot even better.
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u/jumboponcho Hawks 23h ago
They’ll finally be able to use Rudy as a lob threat because Lord knows Ant couldn’t throw em
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u/Sharp-Selection-3541 1d ago
Hornets just led the league in 3s bro just tell us you don't know ball.
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u/ComfortableMaster625 Timberwolves 1d ago
The Hornets had the 3rd best 3P% in the league last year?
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u/Poopcie 1d ago
Finally he says it out loud. I bet hes been asking for a real pg for years.
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u/enblightened 1d ago
Conley was still a good ball handler and distributor for them before last season. But lamelo’s ceiling for overall offensive production just blows that out of the water
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u/Vicentesteb Timberwolves 1d ago
If Conley was 5-10 years younger it would have been fine. He just wasnt playing at the level we needed him to outside of his first 6 months on the team.
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u/enblightened 23h ago
Yeah his jumper got worse but he still had great wingspan to keep him on the floor defensively. He was excellent vs the warriors in the series curry got hurt in game 1
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 18h ago
Was genuinely tragic watching Conley be simply too slow to do the things he was doing even a year before
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u/TdotGdot Timberwolves 21h ago
I've never seen a guy look more like a two guard
so, ya, I believe him
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u/lets_talk_basketball 22h ago
I like Ant being vocal about this.. need to allow swing men to be swings and stop making them ball handlers.
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u/motherseffinjones Raptors 17h ago
Ya LeMelo is gonna make his life so much easier. He might have a mvp year
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u/Live-Cartographer-52 1d ago
they just unlocked jordan
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u/Medical_Sample2738 7h ago
The thing is, Jordan would’ve unlocked other guys, nobody had to unlock him. Sure he was a bit selfish when he played with cocaine users who really didn’t take the game that seriously but he was insanely dominant from the go. Like neck and neck for scoring leader against prime bird his rookie season on above average efficiency while being a good defender.
And he mentored and taught Scottie how to play defense as well as other facets of the game, Scottie would’ve likely been good regardless but there’s no way he reaches the heights he did without Jordan teaching and then pushing him.
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u/heat_fan_ Raptors 1d ago
Ge seems pretty tight with the coach
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u/uncleoptimus 23h ago
Ant doesn't seem like the type to throw coaches and teammates under the bus regardless. (Just came here from a Jimmy Butler thread lol)
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u/aghhhhhhhhhhhhhh 22h ago
He actually seems like one of the best teammates in basketball lol. Hes constantly praising teammates and giving them credit for success and seems like the ultimate hype man even though hes the best player on the team.
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u/Kurowari 19h ago
Ant is my absolute favorite player in the league but it's a shame his playmaking still hasn't taken the leap it needs. Even if he's a natural two, he needs to be better at recognizing openings and passing. It's just not possible to win a championship otherwise. 1D basketball (pure scoring) has limitations.
He should still play offball more than not, but even peak Michael Jordan who had like an offensive load of 55% saw over 30% of that come from playmaking. 80s Jordan had to grow into that, but it's pretty concerning that Ant still hasn't made that jump and his pure assist number is actually trending downwards.
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u/palpablebubble Timberwolves 18h ago
I kinda get the sense that Ant would be happy to be the #2 on a winning team.
We've seen him go after abilities he doesn't yet have and master them over an offseason. It's been a couple years now of putting him into a position to increase his playmaking ability and it didn't quite have a similar jump. Probably just isn't his game, and he seems happy to let Lamelo take the reigns now.
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u/Easy-Philosopher-562 Timberwolves 14h ago
Fans like you have this obsession with every star guard needing to be a Luka or Harden type.
Ant is in the same vein as Kawhi, KD, SGA where they are wired to score first while averaging 4-5 assists a game. These players are also above average defensive players and don't need to be hidden.
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u/GoldLegends Lakers 14h ago
What’s wrong with wanting/hoping your favorite player improve at a weakness? He wasn’t even hating lol.
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u/-neti-neti- Timberwolves 2h ago
He literally said whatever he’s talking about was “pretty concerning” lmao
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u/lethalizered Thunder 5h ago
Shai has been a 6+ APG player for a while now, and he's also known for great ball security.
Ant last season averaged 3.7 apg and 2.9 TOpg.
For Shai those numbers were at 6.6 and 2.2, respectively.
That's a very sizeable gap and I agree with the above poster that playmaking should be the next agenda on Ant's to do list when it comes to improvements. We know he's capable of it.
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u/Kurowari 13h ago
I didn't bring up Harden or Luka, which seems like an extreme interpretation of my point. Ant's a true 2 guard, with more 3 point scoring firepower but he can't just be that.
You mentioned Kawhi, but he's a wing and frankly a way better defender. Even Toronto Kawhi when his defense dipped cause of the offensive load, he was just way better on D. Anthony Edwards could be a good defender, but it's all flashes (even in the playoffs) and he just doesn't lock in on that end.
If he can't become a lockdown guy on D (like actually All Defensive Second Team), he's going to be capped by his playmaking. And I think some degree of pass improvement is much more reasonable. Ant won't ever have the vision of Luka but he should improve there if he wants to win.
I'm pretty comfortable in saying that SGA is better than Ant right now and it's just cause of 2 things: better help defense and willingness to playmake. Ant being better at either of these would be the difference between a Kobe level guy or Ray Allen (in terms of threat).
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u/meaningfulusername91 Thunder 15h ago
We get the genZ version of Kobe and CP3 that we didn’t get 16 years ago
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u/needaburnerbaby 15h ago
I remember like 3 or 4 seasons ago knowing the only thing left for any to develop was going to be solid play making skills and he would be up there with the best of all time. Hard to have every skill obviously still one of the most entertaining dudes in the league but will need to be able to make clutch plays come round 2/3 against thunder/spurs
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u/SortLow8745 Timberwolves 23h ago
Chris Finch tried to make him the main ball handler, changing him from a SG to PG. Just like James Harden, Devin Booker, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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u/Medical_Sample2738 7h ago
Booker still is more of a two, and SGA is more like curry than a traditional pg (not style but he’s an elite scorer first and playmaker second, but he seems to be improving on that end, plus thunder run a spursian egalitarian offense
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u/FunWolverine5349 21h ago
He is a natural 2 guard, he is not wrong. He also plays defense. It is coaching malpractice to turn him into a PG.
Imagine if Phil Jackson was that dumb.
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u/GunstarGreen Thunder 5h ago
Why would they try to make Edwards a PG? Let him do what he does best.
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u/Vicentesteb Timberwolves 1d ago
Man shot 49% on Catch and Shoot 3s but was tasked with giving Julius Randle the rock so he could brick it.