Anthony Edwards

Anthony Edwards is "playing off ball even more now," Minnesota's Bones Hyland said at practice, with LaMelo Ball taking "a lot of pressure off of him." Chris Finch wants Edwards and Jaden McDaniels rebounding better after the team "got crushed on the glass" playing small.

Jonathan Kuminga played with Minnesota's starters, and Anthony Edwards wants him fed: "They can't really guard him. They try to put the worst defenders on him." The plan is to get Kuminga the ball and let him play in space.

Jaden McDaniels is getting more touches in pick-and-rolls and isolations, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said: "if they put a small guy on him, give it to him in the post." Edwards predicted McDaniels will "average 20 to 25 points easy."

Whether to stagger Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball is undecided, but Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said "My gut tells me we'll play them mostly together," pointing to Ball's playmaking creating easy shots for Edwards in their most recent game.

Pacome Dadiet drew the Anthony Edwards assignment against Minnesota, and Knicks coach Mike Brown was forgiving: "nobody's going to stop Anthony Edwards." Brown said Dadiet took the right shots. His one gripe: giving up drives down the middle on closeouts.

LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards together, not staggered: "My gut tells me I want them out there together," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said, trusting the bench for ball-handling. Ball sees plays way in advance, he said, which lets the team get Edwards off the ball.

Jaden McDaniels or Jonathan Kuminga may take 25 shots on some nights while Anthony Edwards takes 15, the Timberwolves star said: "Some nights, Jaden may take 25 shots... JK may take 25 shots." On defense, the three guard the ball and "just switch everything with us 3."

Anthony Edwards says he took about two months off to let his knee heal after playing through pain last season, and it was still sore after that. The Timberwolves star credits his recovery work since: "I'm feeling good for the first time in a long time."

Anthony Edwards on pairing with LaMelo Ball: his focus has shifted from scoring to winning. "Some games they gonna trap me, some games they may trap him and I may be the decoy." Ball expects "a lot of running and gunning," with lobs to Rudy Gobert a big part of it.

Anthony Edwards named his defensive core as himself, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Jonathan Kuminga, with LaMelo Ball "super good off the ball." Edwards also said he slept through three or four calls from Ball before learning of the trade: "I was asleep."

Ayo Dosunmu said he's told Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball to turn the defensive attention they draw into lobs and pocket passes for Rudy Gobert: "that boosts his confidence." On his new deal: "I wanna look back in 3 years and they say, oh, that was a steal of a contract."

Hyland wants Jaden McDaniels "involved even more" on offense: "Unlock him." Half-court offense gets a "0.5 mentality" too: "Make a decision like it is transition," with cutting stressed on film. Anthony Edwards must speak up more as "the face of our franchise," he said.

Bones Hyland on the clip of Anthony Edwards trash-talking Jaylen Clark: "They had the wrong words what he said. He didn't say that." He declined to give the real ones. Hyland, Ayo Dosunmu and LaMelo Ball are the "core guys" who have hard talks with Edwards, plus Rudy Gobert.

Finch also credited LaMelo Ball with changing how Anthony Edwards plays in the open floor: "Ant's getting ahead of the ball better than he has been." Finch said Ball pushes the ball up the floor and encourages Edwards to run.

Chris Finch says Minnesota is adding cutting with cleaner spacing, but must "hold your spacing" for Anthony Edwards isolations and Rudy Gobert pick-and-roll. LaMelo Ball is "near top of the league at finding cutters." Finch on flopping: "We don't teach flopping here."