It took Ryan Saunders 17 games before he promoted Anthony Edwards into the starting lineup during his rookie year. Edwards was the No. 1 pick, but he was going through the growing pains every rookie endures – averaging 13 points on 35.5% from the floor and 30.4% from deep while trying to prove he belongs in the NBA after spending one season in college.
In his second game with the starters, Edwards recorded 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers on 9 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 7 from deep in 30 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wolves won their fifth game of the season, 109-104, and Edwards played the most complete game of his young career.
“I was having fun because we were just playing together,” Edwards said postgame. “People would think I was having fun because I was playing good. I don’t care about that. We’re winning, our team is winning, everyone is having great success, and everyone is happy. I was just enjoying the moment. Everybody was together, and we were just excited for each other.”
Edwards was 19 and entered the NBA one year before he should have. He was the second-youngest player in the league, playing on the youngest team. Still, Ant’s response after beating the Cavs was mature.
He learned the ins and outs of the NBA from teammates like Karl-Anthony Towns and veterans Ricky Rubio and Ed Davis. The positive effects of having quality role models in Ant’s corner yielded early results that have stuck with him throughout his rapid rise to stardom.
Five years later, Edwards is still relatively new to the NBA. However, he is already taking on the veteran status while still learning to be a better role model.
“The guy the team needs me to be,” Edwards said at media day when a reporter asked who he wanted to be in 2024-25. “Whether it is scoring, passing, defending, getting rebounds, or just showing everybody that I am coachable. You know, [Chris] Finch coaches hard. So just being a leader by example and letting him coach me and not really saying anything back.”
Edwards was seen by many around the NBA as the next face of the league. The next in line to replace guys like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry in a new era of superstars. However, he has asserted himself as a box office player quicker than most expected.
Ant took his first meaningful step into the spotlight last season after Towns suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss 20 of Minnesota’s final 22 games.
In the 20 games without KAT, Edwards averaged 26.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists on 45.3% from the floor, leading the Wolves to a 12-6 record. Ant repeatedly said there was never a hierarchy between him and KAT. However, Ant had to be Minnesota’s No. 1 option while the team contended for home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Edwards attacked a high-stakes challenge with maturity, which garnered even more positive attention around the league. Ant has come a long way from people perceiving him as a disinterested rookie who came off the bench to start his career.
After Towns rejoined Edwards, and the two led the Wolves to their second Western Conference Finals appearance in franchise history, Minnesota’s front office took an interesting path forward.
First, they traded into the lottery on draft night to select Rob Dillingham out of Kentucky with the eighth pick. They also drafted Terrence Shannon Jr. out of Illinois with the 27th pick, two prospects who seemed NBA-ready. In October, Tim Connelly and his staff shocked the NBA world by trading Towns to the New York Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a first-round pick days before training camp.
The Wolves were three wins away from their first Finals appearance. However, Connelly navigated off Towns’ supermax contract, clearing space to keep Minnesota competitive past the next couple of seasons.
Trading KAT also meant Edwards is tied for Minnesota’s second-longest tenured player behind Naz Reid, who the Wolves signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
It’s no longer in question: This is Ant’s team. He’s a superstar fans will travel across the country to see play. The front office placed confidence in Edwards that he has what it takes to bring them a championship and be one of the all-time greats.
Edwards, 23, has already put together a resume that indicates he’s capable of being the face of the league. However, the Wolves are bringing in rookies they believe will rise alongside Edwards, so they also need Ant to be like the veterans he had during his rookie year.
“I be trying to tell Rob [Dillingham] that I was the No. 1 draft pick, and I came off the bench,” Edwards said following the Wolves’ 116-99 win over the Knicks on Friday. “I be trying to get him to understand this.”
Ant’s path to becoming a high-usage player was linear because the Wolves drafted him in the middle of a rebuild. Dillingham’s path to becoming so much as a rotation player in the NBA has been much more knurly because a team with championship aspirations drafted him.
Chris Finch, who has historically been a hard coach to gain trust, has only played Dillingham in meaningful minutes when Mike Conley or DiVincenzo are out. The Wolves are halfway through the season, and Dillingham has yet to become a consistent fixture in the rotation after Connelly told the media after the draft that he would have a role on Day 1.
Dillingham has also been dealing with a nagging right ankle sprain that kept him out of 12 straight games and forced him to play a few games in the G League to get back in shape.
“The confidence is there,” Edwards continued on Friday. “He’s shown it. He showed it in Boston, he showed it tonight, and he shows it every time he plays. It’s hard to explain to him like, ‘Bro, this is why you aren’t playing, X, Y, Z.’ He shows it every time.”
It has been a frustrating start to Dillingham’s NBA career. Few lottery picks end up on contending teams. When they do, it is usually hard to carve out a role immediately. However, Dillingham has done something to prove he belongs in the rotation every time he plays meaningful minutes.
Most recently, he put up nine points and three assists on 4 of 6 shooting in 13 minutes against the Knicks on Friday, immediately after rejoining the team from his G League assignment. On Saturday, Dillingham recorded 12 points and two assists on 5 of 10 from the floor in 18 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He worked through adversity on Saturday and benefited from a prolonged run in the fourth quarter.
The potential is there. Scouts saw Dillingham as a lottery pick because of his scoring at Kentucky. Still, he has played like a natural, pass-first guard in the NBA – promoting healthy ball movement and a quick pace that Minnesota’s starters frequently lack.
Dillingham must remain patient. He’s in Minnesota’s long-term plans, but most rookies don’t like to wait. Although Edwards’ path to becoming a high-usage player in the NBA was linear, it wasn’t too long ago that he was frustrated with coming off the bench. Ant can sympathize with Dillingham while continuing to coach him through the growing pains of being a rookie.
“I learn from Ant every day,” Dillingham told the media when asked what he’s learned halfway through his first NBA season. “All of these dudes, but Ant mainly because you see it first hand. Like, if he misses, he misses. He is going to shoot that s— again. It just shows you like, ‘Bro, no matter what happens, you have to keep going. That s— might not go your way every time, but you will never be in that position if you don’t put yourself in that position to f— up.’”
Taking after Ant’s reliance on the court will be beneficial for Dillingham. Most rookies struggle to play confidently, even if their shot isn’t falling or they make a careless turnover. However, Ant knows that having a short memory and never letting your confidence waver is paramount to maximizing your minutes as a rookie.
Still, there is room for Ant to grow as a leader.
“I made a careless, young, and dumb mistaking by shooting birds,” Edwards said on Jan. 13 when a reporter asked him about the league fining him $50,000 for flipping off the officials in Minnesota’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 11. “I got fans who are little kids. I got parents who are looking at me, knowing their kids are fans of me, like, ‘What type of role model is he by shooting birds in the middle of a basketball game?’”
Edwards has a meaningful impact on the young fans who watch him play. He also has an impact on his young teammates. The NBA has fined Ant $285,000 this season, more than any other player. Edwards has also received nine technical fouls, tied with Dillon Brooks for the most league-wide.
The relationship Edwards and Dillingham already have is proving to be fruitful. Ant knows what Rob is going through and sees himself in the rookie. There is a partnership blossoming between the two that could eventually be the cornerstone of a championship-level team.
However, Edwards still has room to mature. Not only does Ant have to prove to the coaching staff that he can control his emotions and filter his language when addressing the media. He also must set a good example for those around him.