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For the longest time, Anthony Edwards has been quite the one-man show for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Coach Chris Finch did see the emergence of other talents like Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid for a while but it was just not enough for them to make an NBA Finals run. Now, they have LaMelo Ball playing alongside their franchise cornerstone. The head coach noted how much of a help the star point guard will be in unlocking their scoring machine's next jump.
Timberwolves' Finch outlines how Ball helps in unlocking next superstar jump for Edwards
LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards quite had a very similar path towards superstardom after the 2020 NBA Draft. Both were handed the keys to their franchises immediately, the Timberwolves and Hornets, before getting any sort of complementing roster. Ball could not push his franchise to title contention and has now been shipped to the Timberwolves. Meanwhile, Edwards did see some of his teammates become big-time contributors but no one has risen to the ranks of being a perennial NBA All-Star.
These two will now have to share the same back court but bear different duties. One will become a full-time scoring machine while the other blossoms into the floor general that he was meant to become after the longest time. Coach Chris Finch noted how much of a help both players are to each other, especially in unlocking their jumps to superstardom, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“There were some really good moments. But it was an unfair pressure for him to have to run the team and be a scorer and all that kind of stuff. We looked at some other things out there, but this just felt like the right thing. He just fulfills so many needs, We needed a point guard of the future," the Timberwolves coach declared.
For context, Edwards has been playing the role of both floor general and scorer for the Timberwolves offense. With Ball in tow, they get a generational passer who sets Coach Finch's up. The word 'generational' is also not used lightly here too. Currently, the new Timberwolves guard holds a 39.14% assist percentage. This ranks 13th all-time in the NBA. Ball beats out legends like Nikola Jokic, LeBron James, Isiah Thomas, and James Harden among others in this statistical category.
"We needed a connector, not just a point guard. But we don’t get just a point guard. We get an All-Star-level point guard. We get a guy who naturally is a pass-first guy who wants to get the ball moving, who can accentuate our best player’s talents," the Timberwolves head coach added.
Edwards has a lot of offensive burden stripped off his shoulders due to Ball coming to the Timberwolves. More than that, Coach Finch also gets to play around in more creative schemes to help their offense.
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