NBA: Preseason-Minnesota Timberwolves at New York Knicks
Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after making a shot during the first quarter against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 12, 2026.
A year ago, Anthony Edwards was asked what it would take for the guard to win a regular-season Most Valuable Player award. His response was two-fold: “Winning and scoring.”
“I think that’s the main recipe,” he said. “Win, and average a whole bunch of points.”
It’s how Minnesota’s superstar has long viewed the game. For years, he admits, he would judge personal performance on his scoring output.
That’s no longer the plan heading into the 2026-27 campaign that kicks off Wednesday in Miami. Edwards said he’ll be grading his game “a lot different.”
“Now, I look at the plus-minus when I was on the floor,” Edwards said last month, referencing the number that shows whether your team won or lost the minutes you played. “And, really, (that’s) just about how good I was playing defense that night.”
That’s the end of the floor that was so intriguing about the guard early in his career. Yes, he could score. But, boy, could he also defend. All-Defense accolades felt far more like a matter of “when” versus “if … .”
“He can stay in front of anybody when he wants to — when he wants to,” Wolves defensive coordinator Elston Turner said. “He has been a player that I’ve been impressed with since I’ve been here, because he can play both ends. He can do it. You can’t get around him.”
But as his scoring volume has increased to an elite level, the defensive impact dropped. That’s not to say Edwards stopped guarding altogether — he still keeps his man in front of him far more frequently than most stars — but no longer did he play the role of game-changing defender.
Last season was a lowlight in this regard, as Edwards’ advanced defensive metrics plummeted to career lows as his attention to detail waned.
It was accepted as part of the deal, especially as Minnesota moved Edwards to the de facto point guard position. The offensive burden was considered too heavy for him to keep shouldering a defensive load.
“Last year we were trying to preserve him defensively since he was handling so much,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told Paul Allen on Tuesday on KFXN-100.3
The calculus has changed with the addition of LaMelo Ball.
“He’s back on the ball (defensively),” Finch said. “His offensive load and responsibility to create isn’t as high, and he’s able to direct that energy back to defense.”
Edwards will still likely threaten to score 30 points a game, but it might require less work. Still, scoring at that volume while also serving as a defensive menace is a rarity in today’s game. Wings in that category include Kawhi Leonard in Toronto and Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia, plus a few others.
Which brings into question how feasible that two-way workload truly is.
Turner played with the greatest two-way player the sport has seen, Michael Jordan, for two seasons in Chicago, including the 1987-88 campaign in which Jordan won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award while averaging 35 points.
Turner noted the present factors leading to the potential extinction of that archetype. To start, he said many players are accustomed to getting by purely on their offensive games.
“The theory is if you can score, that’s what’s going to get you paid,” Turner said. “I don’t think there’s just an emphasis put on (defense) at the grassroots level. That’s from what I see at this level.”
Certainly, there are also strategic reasons — such as potential foul trouble and fatigue — to not overexpose your best player defensively. Pace has skyrocketed league-wide over the past decade-plus.
“The game has changed so much. It’s more up and down, more movement, more A to B,” Turner said. “Back in the day, teams kind of stood around, and then you threw it in the post. So you kind of rested a little bit. But with all the movement, you’re exerting energy in each possession, and then you’ve got to get it and run down on offense.”
Still, Turner rejects the notion that it’s unachievable to star on both ends of the floor.
“But you have to have a motor,” Turner said. “And, sometimes, motors are hard to come by. It is extremely tiring to play both ends of the floor at an elite level for a whole game.”
Jordan had a motor.
“We had legitimate, two-hour practices. Training camp was twice a day — the old-school rules,” Turner recalled. “And at the end of practice, he’s still flying through the air dunking it. Everybody winds down, but no, he just didn’t get tired. He did not tire. He didn’t fatigue. And that’s special. Everybody doesn’t have that.”
Edwards certainly has a motor, but how frequently can it run at full throttle? Turner noted you see the guard’s defensive dominance in patches.
“It’s hit and miss with him,” Turner said.
There may be a reason for that.
“Ant is like a power guard. He’s carrying around just a little more beef. So, you’re going to fatigue,” Turner said. “In my previous five years with him, he carried so much of a load offensively, I could see him resting sometimes on defense. And (Finch) has talked to him about it. It’s just kind of normal and natural.”
Edwards admits he was “super tired” at points last season. But with Ball running the show, he’s now free, potentially, to park himself in the corner for a few offensive possessions at a time to regain his wind.
It’s why Finch believes Minnesota can expect “a lot” of elite defensive play from Edwards, where he’s consistently communicating and competing at a high level.
“Listen, if we want to be the best team we can be,” Finch said, “we have to have it.”
Edwards is capable. Turner called the guard a “special basketball player.” Wolves basketball boss Tim Connelly took it a step further, noting Edwards has “a chance” to be the best player in the world and is one of only a few people on the planet with that potential.
But he won’t get there by merely outscoring his peers.
“He has got to be elite on both ends,” Connelly said. “He’s got the ability to be, I think, the best on-ball perimeter defender in the NBA. … He’s so strong, he’s got great instincts, he’s so competitive. Do we think it’s got to be 48 minutes of play on both ends? Is that realistic? Probably not.
“But do we think in the biggest moments he can be the most impactful perimeter defender in the league? Absolutely.”