Wolves rookie Edwards getting high praise from NBA great Wade

President of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has a vision for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After making big changes to the Wolves’ roster at the 2019-20 trade deadline, Rosas has surrounded All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell with a core of promising young talent.

Each Thursday, we’ll be tracking the progress of these young players while also keeping up with the G League Iowa Wolves to see who will rise to the challenge of bringing a consistent, winning team to Minnesota.

This is the 7th edition of the 2020-21 Young Wolves Tracker.

SPOTLIGHT ON …

Guard Anthony Edwards

Edwards, the top pick of the 2020 NBA draft, just missed out on his first clutch NBA moment Wednesday night.

With 11.1 seconds left and the game between Minnesota and Indiana tied at 121, the Wolves had a chance for the last shot. Minnesota set up an open 3-pointer for Edwards for the win. He chucked it up and nearly drained the shot, but the basketball popped out after going halfway down the hole.

How did this not go in!?!?#Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/jQ9PSXvLL9

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) February 18, 2021

The game went to overtime, and the Timberwolves lost 134-128.

Despite missing out on the buzzer beater, it’s been quite the week for Edwards on and off the floor. He poured in a career-best 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting (5 of 10 from downtown) on Tuesday against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, while also adding seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks. His big scoring effort against L.A. was enough to surpass the milestone of 400 career points, becoming the fourth Wolves rookie to do so in his first 28 games.

Edwards has started the last 11 games since making his first career start Jan. 29. In those 11 contests, Edwards averaged 17.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 44% from the field and 36% from 3-point range.

While the national attention for the 2020 rookie class has favored No. 2 pick LaMelo Ball thus far, Edwards earned a couple of shout outs from future Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade this week.

“I definitely think he can be a better player than I was,” Wade said on the NBA on TNT show Wednesday night. “He has all the tools.”

“I definitely think he can be a better player than I was. He has all the tools.”@DwyaneWade has high hopes for Anthony Edwards. pic.twitter.com/0CcSdPM3eK

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2021

After Edwards told reporters he watches film of Wade running the pick-and-roll, the three-time NBA champion took to Twitter to sing his praises once again.

Same cloth 🤝 https://t.co/Ulp5uJmN6u

— DWade (@DwyaneWade) February 18, 2021

Wade placed lofty expectations on the 19-year-old rookie, but after 29 career games, Edwards does look like he has a promising future in the NBA.

WOLF TRACKS

— Karl-Anthony Towns poured in a season-high 30 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday night. Going 12 for 12 from the charity stripe, it was his third career game making 100% of his free throws when taking 12+ attempts.

— At 30 years old, Rubio doesn’t qualify for the Young Wolves Tracker, but it’s worth noting he’s averaged 16.3 points and 8.7 assists over the last three games. He logged 6.0 points and 6.3 assists per contest over his first 24 games of the season.

— Jaden McDaniels, selected 28th overall by the Wolves, made his first career start Wednesday night. In 37 minutes — his first game with 30+ minutes on the floor – he logged 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks.

— Juancho Hernangomez, signed to a three-year deal before the season, seems to have lost his role with the Wolves. After being sidelined due to COVID-19 in mid-January, Hernangomez returned to the court Feb. 8. But he’s played in just one of the Wolves’ last five games, logging five points in nine minutes Sunday.