The emergence of Anthony Edwards into superstardom has been the talk of the NBA playoffs so far. The 22-year-old led the Timberwolves to a dominating sweep of Phoenix in the opening round, which left most discussing what the hell is going wrong with the Suns. In hindsight, they should have been focused on what’s going right in Minnesota.
A week later, everyone is now well aware of the real story. Edwards has led the Wolves to back-to-back wins in Denver over the defending champions, and frankly, the two sides don’t even appear to be playing the same sport. At this point, a sweep of the Nuggets almost seems expected, which nobody could have foreseen at the start of the postseason. Minnesota looks like the team to beat right now, and Edwards is already getting compared to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Typically, I don’t think that’s fair for any young player. Jordan is the GOAT, and Bryant is not far behind him. However, I’m having a difficult time coming up with a comp for Edwards myself who isn’t one of the greatest shooting guards the world has ever seen.
Edwards can create off the dribble, catch and shoot, finish in traffic, bully smaller defenders in the post, and move effectively without the ball in his hands. He’s also terrific on the defensive end and a walking highlight reel on both ends of the court. The Atlanta native is one of the most special young players ever. Everyone is jealous of what’s going on in Minnesota right now, including Hawks point guard Trae Young, who took to X/Twitter to say that Anthony Edwards, “Should’ve been a Hawk to start, but that’s for another day..”
Should’ve been a Hawk to start, but that’s for another day..
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 7, 2024
I’m intrigued to see if there’s actually a backstory to this, or if Young is just dreaming of an alternate universe where the Hawks landed the #1 pick and took Anthony Edwards like fans do all the time.
Edwards was taken 1st overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. In that draft, the Hawks had the sixth pick, which they used on Onyeka Okongwu. Edwards was never going to fall that far; however, the Timberwolves were not dead set on drafting Edwards #1 overall and were shopping the pick prior to the draft. Perhaps the Hawks were one of the teams interested but didn’t pull the trigger. Or maybe the Wolves did not want to move that far down the board.
Whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll get an answer from Trae Young himself on the next episode of his podcast From The Point.
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Photographer: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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