The Timberwolves took a step backward in last season’s playoffs — falling in the second round after two straight conference finals appearances — which led to major offseason changes. Star guard Anthony Edwards understands that building chemistry is the first step for his new-look team before it can be viewed as a serious contender, writes Rob Andrew Dongiapon of ESPN.
“It would mean a lot (to win a championship) … But right now, I don’t think we’re thinking about winning the championship,” Edwards said. *“It’s step by step. We got LaMelo (Ball), a new player, and a bunch of new pieces. So, we are just trying to build it together and I think we’re trying to gel it all together.”*
The Wolves, who have traditionally been built around size, changed the nature of their team in July by acquiring Ball in a four-team trade that sent Naz Reid to Charlotte and Julius Randle to Brooklyn. Ball and Edwards will form one of the most exciting guard combinations in recent NBA history, but there’s a shortage of big men outside of Rudy Gobert and second-year center Joan Beringer.
The addition of Ball should take away the need for Edwards to serve as the team’s primary playmaker as well as its leading scorer. However, he doesn’t expect to alter his game much while playing alongside his new backcourt partner.
“That’s the best part about me,” Edwards said. “I will still be the same person.”
There’s more from Minnesota:
Excitement over the Edwards-Ball pairing helped the Wolves land their first Christmas Day home game in franchise history, Chris Hine of the Star-Tribune states in a subscriber-only story. It’s the third straight Christmas appearance for the team, which was also chosen to be part of the Martin Luther King Day schedule.
Gobert covered the expenses for all his teammates who joined him recently in Paris for workouts and other team-building activities, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Gobert posted a video with highlights from the experience.
The Wolves have an obvious need for help at power forward, but that doesn’t mean they should gamble on a Ben Simmons comeback, contends La Velle E. Neal III of The Star-Tribune (subscriber link). Neal cautions that Simmons’ persistent back issues make it unlikely that he could handle the workload that Minnesota would need him to, and his reluctance to shoot three-pointers makes him a bad fit on a team that wants to speed up the tempo to create open looks from beyond the arc. Neal views the recently signed Trey Lyles as a better option because he’s a 34.7% career shooter from three-point range.