Anthony Edwards is off to his third consecutive All-Star game in San Francisco this weekend. The fifth-year guard is quickly becoming a regular at the NBA’s annual talent showcase and one of the best players in the league. At just 23 years old, Ant should be penciled in for the next 15 All-Star games and is on a trajectory that would put him on a path toward all-time greatness.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have had eight players represent the franchise in the All-Star game in 36 seasons. Kevin Garnett did it 10 times. Karl-Anthony Towns did it four times before the Wolves shipped him to New York. Edwards and Kevin Love have represented the Timberwolves three times each. Tom Gugliotta, Wally Szczerbiak, Sam Cassell, and Jimmy Butler were all one-timers during their time with the Wolves.
Ant is the established star going forward, but is there anyone else in a Timberwolves jersey who could one day join him on a future All-Star team?
The Timberwolves have a few All-Star veterans on the roster. As much as Draymond Green may hate it, Rudy Gobert was a three-time All-Star in Utah. Julius Randle made three All-Star teams in New York. And Mike Conley was named to his first and only All-Star team in 2021.
As long as Shaquille O’Neal is roaming the Earth, Gobert will never make another All-Star team. Shaq is one of the captains of the new format, and although he actually has no say in who gets into the All-Star game, nobody wants to hear him drag Gobert anymore than he already has. Gobert will be a Hall of Famer once his career is over. Still, unless he finds a three-point shot late in his career, he’ll retire as a three-time All-Star.
Conley is respectfully washed and is closer to retirement than another All-Star appearance.
Randle might be the closest teammate to joining Ant at a future All-Star game. Randle was an All-Star last season with the Knicks. In 46 games, he averaged 24 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists before a shoulder injury ended his season. Randle is out with a groin strain but is averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game during his first campaign with the Timberwolves.
To say it’s been an underwhelming start to his Wolves career is an understatement. Still, by the raw numbers, Randle is definitely the closest Timberwolf to being Ant’s All-Star teammate. However, he’s injured, just turned 30, and is having one of his worst seasons since his breakout with the New Orleans Pelicans six years ago, and his future with the Timberwolves is in doubt.
Naz Reid is the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. After a slow start, Reid is arguably having a better season than last year. He’s averaging 14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game, shooting 41 percent from three in 26.5 minutes. Those might not jump off the page as typical All-Star numbers, but Reid has defied the odds every step of his six-year NBA career. He has come off the bench for 316 of his 380 career games. It’s worked well as his rise to stardom came behind Towns and Gobert in the loaded frontcourt.
In his 64 games as a starter, Naz Reid averages 15.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game. Those numbers jump to 18.6 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and 1.3 blocks per game in seven games as a starter this season. If Chris Finch decides to start Reid going forward, he could keep improving and put up borderline All-Star numbers in the future.
There’s a subsection of young veteran players who have done enough in the NBA to know that while they’re good players, they likely won’t be selected to an All-Star game. Jaden McDaniels is one of the best defenders in the NBA, but he’ll likely never score enough to be considered for an All-Star roster. Donte DiVincenzo is 28 and a classic sixth man and likely won’t improve much more as he gets older. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a great glue guy off the bench but will never be in the conversation.
There are just as many youngsters who are too early into their NBA careers for us to know how things will shake out. Terrence Shannon Jr. has performed well lately but is already 24 and has played 15 NBA games. Josh Minott is on his last chance to show he belongs in the NBA. Leonard Miller is killing it in the G League, and Jaylen Clark is showing flashes, but it’s too early to tell.
Ultimately, the hopes for Minnesota’s youth movement lie with Rob Dillingham.
The eighth overall pick in last year’s draft has had an odd rookie season. The San Antonio Spurs drafted Dillingham but traded him to the Timberwolves, a team that made the Western Conference Finals the month prior. Dillingham came along slow and played in 15 of the team’s first 40 games and managed more than 10 minutes just three times.
When he hit the court you could see something simmering. Dillingham returned to the lineup with nine points in a win in Madison Square Garden, 12 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and 15 points against the Houston Rockets. Every time Dillingham touched the court, he injected the offense with NOS and ignited the fanbase that had struggled through the first half of the season.
Dillingham is averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 assists in 16.4 minutes per game in the 15 games he’s played since returning to the lineup. It’s odd to say that a 6’1″, 176-pound kid who wasn’t even invited to the Rising Stars game at this year’s All-Star festivities could be a potential All-Star in the future. Still, Dillingham could follow one player’s path to future stardom.
Tyrese Maxey was never supposed to be an NBA All-Star when the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him 21st overall in 2020. The 6’2″ lightning-quick guard out of Kentucky had potential and had a decent lone season in Lexington. Still, he was touted as a small, fast guard who maybe could be kinda something in the future.
Maxey averaged eight points and two assists in his NBA first season on a Sixers team that had just lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs. He averaged 17.5 points per game in his sophomore season, 20.3 in his third year, and 25.9 last season when he won Most Improved Player and went to the All-Star game for the first time.
There’s no guarantee that Dillingham will be the next Maxey, but there is a roadmap to get there. Not every All-Star player comes out of the games hot from the start of their career. But if one of Edwards’ teammates joins him as an All-Star down the road, Dillingham might be the one to watch out for.