Even at just 24 years old, Anthony Edwards is already ready to develop his old-man game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star Edwards is focused on adding something new to his game for next season, Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Tuesday. Edwards is working to develop his post game and has been watching tape of both Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant this offseason.
“This offseason, Anthony Edwards’ number 1 focus [is] a new area of development, and that’s the post-up game,” said Charania on “NBA Today.” “The mid-post, the high post, low post, establishing a midrange game, and the fadeaway shot from the post, a la Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
“I’m told he has been watching a lot of tape of Kobe and MJ, studying their game and how they were able to get the shot off from the post-up game,” Charania added. “Minnesota believes this part of his game will potentially become a go-to element, especially as games stagnate down the stretch, get slower, particularly come playoff time.”
Edwards, a three-time All-Star who has led Minnesota to back-to-back Western Conference Finals, already has a deadly downhill game attacking the rim (as many unlucky foes can attest to) as well as a fairly reliable three-point shot (shooting 39.5 percent from deep last year). But his relative lack of a midrange shot, particularly with his back to the basket, is what has prevented Edwards from being considered as a true three-level scorer to this point of his NBA career.
By developing a turnaround shot from the post in the style of Bryant or Jordan, Edwards can really attack defenders one-on-one and try to shoot over the top of shorter ones. He can also leverage the threat of his newfound turnaround shot into cleaner driving lanes to the basket. Granted, that will require a lot of footwork, craftiness, and consistent shotmaking from the post in order for it to succeed. But it looks like Edwards is very much up for the assignment, especially since one fellow NBA star challenged Edwards to do just that earlier this offseason.
