Anthony Edwards plans to repeat a part of Stephen Curry's recreation, and it might create his subsequent scoring superpower

Anthony Edwards is monitoring to be one of many subsequent faces of the NBA, if he isn’t already there. We just voted him No. 10 on our annual CBS Sports activities Prime 100 NBA gamers record, and it is solely going to be up from there if he continues the trail of he is on. 

Edwards exploded with profession highs throughout the board final season. He earned his first All-NBA choice and end seventh in MVP voting earlier than main the Timberwolves to the Western Convention finals — taking out Kevin Durant’s Suns and Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets alongside the way in which. 

And as nice as he was within the common season, he bought higher within the playoffs, which is not any small feat in opposition to the most effective competitors on this planet. He went from 25.9 PPG to 27.6 and 5.1 assists to six.5. In the meantime, his capturing clips went from 46% general and 35.7% from 3 to 48% and 40%, respectively. His protection can, and does, qualify as equally dominant when he places his foot down. 

It makes you marvel what Edwards can enhance upon this season and in seasons to come back with already such a excessive normal set. For that, he was paying shut consideration to his legendary Workforce USA teammates throughout their run to Olympic gold in Paris. 

At Timberwolves media day on Monday, Edwards talked in regards to the Workforce USA practices being essentially the most impactful a part of the Olympic course of, as he was in a position to see the way in which a number of the biggest gamers ever deal with their enterprise. 

He marveled on the means Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry “don’t miss” in exercises. He saved a very eager eye on LeBron James‘ pregame routine when it comes to how he prepares to play on the highest degree at rattling close to 40 years outdated. 

However largely, he was watching Curry transfer with out the ball, and in that one takeaway Edwards believes he can discover simpler scoring alternatives that may take his manufacturing to a different degree as his NBA profession hits full stride. 

“I believe the most effective half about the entire [Olympic experience] was the practices,” Edwards stated. “I believe the most effective factor that I realized was from Steph. I took Bron’s pregame routine, however Steph simply enjoying with out the ball. So like, the previous couple of days [with the Timberwolves] we have been enjoying 5 on 5, I simply be slicing, getting out of the way in which, and I get simple photographs. So I believe I realized essentially the most from Steph.”

This definitely is not the primary time one other participant has identified the ability of Curry’s off-ball motion — which, for all his theatrical ability shows on the courtroom, has in all probability turn out to be his deadliest weapon. Nearly each nice scorer within the league does the majority of his work with the ball in his arms, which Curry can do as properly, however it’s some time completely different problem to defend a participant who by no means stops shifting. 

Defenders naturally let their guard down when their man provides up the ball, and it is in these cut up seconds that Curry bursts to open area, be it with a minimize to the basket or a relocation behind the 3-point line. It is almost not possible to cowl for a whole possession, not to mention a whole recreation. It is a superpower, and it is stunning that extra gamers have not adopted this off-ball aggression. 

Trae Young, notably, wants so as to add this to his bag. It is tough, as a result of nice scorers are management freaks. They do not belief anybody else with the ball as a lot as they belief themselves, and there is a component of figuring out for those who transfer you will get the ball again later within the possession in a premium place to attain that encourages you to offer it up within the first place. 

Curry has constructed that kind of belief and anticipatory chemistry with the Warriors over time. They’re all on the identical wavelength. It is unbelievable that Edwards has acknowledged the ability of shifting with out the ball relatively than passing and standing nonetheless till you get it again, and if he persistently implements it he’ll turn out to be much more tough to defend. 

But it surely takes a dedication. The conditioning facet can’t be overstated. These prime gamers expend a lot vitality creating offense that on the uncommon event that the ball is not of their arms, their intuition is to take a breather, each bodily and mentally. Curry goes the opposite means. When he provides up the ball, he hits the turbo button. 

Think about a participant with the pace and athleticism of Edwards doing that, and now think about his teammates seeing it sufficient that they begin to develop a chemistry to anticipate cuts and passes one beat forward of momentarily disoriented defenses. That is the place the straightforward buckets Edwards is speaking about present up, and the extra success he has with it, the extra he’ll decide to doing it persistently. That is when issues might get actually scary for Timberwolves opponents.