MINNEAPOLIS — Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is experimenting with spending more time away from the basketball this season, a development that has reportedly forced everyone involved to reconsider several long-held assumptions about how Anthony Edwards possessions are supposed to work.
Minnesota is adjusting its offense around a reshaped roster and wants Edwards to become more dangerous without the ball, using cuts, screens and movement to create easier opportunities instead of beginning every possession with approximately 14 seconds of Anthony Edwards figuring something out.
Edwards was initially informed that NBA rules do, in fact, allow a superstar to continue participating even when another teammate is dribbling.
Team officials described the revelation as encouraging.
Coaches believe more off-ball movement could make Edwards harder to load up against defensively, create cleaner scoring opportunities and force opponents to track him even when he is not personally controlling the entire geometry of the possession.
Sources said Edwards has already begun experimenting with advanced concepts such as “cutting,” “relocating” and occasionally standing somewhere useful while another person has the ball.
Teammates reportedly remain cautiously optimistic.
“It’s weird,” one player said. “But technically we can still pass it back to him.”
Minnesota stressed that Edwards will continue to have the ball plenty and that nobody is attempting to remove his ability to attack, isolate or take shots that make the coaching staff briefly reconsider its profession.
At press time, Edwards was reportedly making a promising backdoor cut before asking if he could have the ball now.
