Failed but did not retreat! The Young Wolf King is still on the road to transformation!

On May 30, 2024, when the Timberwolves lost to the Mavericks in the fifth game of the Western Conference Finals, Edwards was full of confidence in himself and the team, as he always was:

"We will be back next year, and I told them that we will be back here again next year. So exercise yourself well and know that you have to be prepared, including myself."

For the Timberwolves, maybe last year has been a good enough year. At that time, this was a mediocre team with a winning rate of more than 50% in 12 seasons in the 35 years since the establishment of the team. They made it to the playoffs 12 times, but 10 times were eliminated early in the first round of the playoffs.

They were once selected as Garnett at the Hall of Fame level, but Garnett finally helped them reach the Western Conference Finals only once. Later, they used the No. 1 pick to choose center Towns. Although this inside player was average in the team, he was still very popular among local fans. However, it was such a core team who was traded by the management before the start of this season, and the team was completely handed over to another No. 1 pick Edwards.

In the first four seasons of Edwards' career, his three-point shooting percentage averaged 35.3%, and he was able to score 2.6 goals per game, which is not too bad. And if his three-point outside line can be more threatening, in addition to becoming another conventional scoring weapon, it can also help him gain more opportunities for breakthroughs.

So, under the adjustment of the coaching team, Edwards took the initiative to adjust his shooting posture this season, raised the ball holding position before the shot to near his lower abdomen, and adjusted the shooting point from the top of his head to the point forward, so that the shooting movements can be simpler and more effective, and changed the elbow angle when shooting from V to a standard 90-degree L shape, so that the shooting can be smoother and more effort-saving.

But for a professional player who has been playing basketball since childhood, adjusting his shooting posture is not a simple thing. Judging from the content of Edwards' interview, it is enough to show his efforts this season:

"We just shoot on the court every day, just shoot. I try to make it more perfect. Because when I joined the league, the main criticism of me was: he can break through, but he can't shoot, so I spent a lot of time changing my reputation. It's just a little bit at the moment, but I feel like I'm heading in the right direction."

Next, Edwards can also pose a threat to defense when he does not hold the ball. The catch-up shot is different from the one he takes the ball, and it also requires constant adjustment and practice:

"In order to allow me to score without holding the ball. I need to be able to throw the ball. Do you know what I am talking about? Let them respect you and be prepared to receive the pass and shoot, which will make you another threat on the offensive end. Because the opponent needs to respect you now, because I can catch the ball."

In the 2025 season, Edwards' three-point shooting percentage increased to 39.5%, of which the hit rate of the catch-up shot was 42.1%. His shots increased to 10.3 times per game, making the league's most 320 three-pointers, the seventh most in league history, with only Curry (five times) and Harden ahead of him.

was selected for the Paris Olympic men's basketball team last summer, which was another breakthrough for Edwards. Although as the youngest player in the team, he declared confidently as usual: "I don't care who else is on the court, I feel that I am the best player on the court." On the other hand, he is also humbly seizing every moment and cherishing the opportunity to learn from other superstars.

Durant is his idol since childhood. Edwards has been studying his movements to improve his mid-range shooting skills; he discussed his running skills with Curry, and he would also run to James' shooting court after training, hoping to get the latter's advice:

"I just absorb everything."

In this journey, it may be a particularly important point for Edwards. In the summer of 2020, when the whole world was still under the impact of the epidemic, the Warriors coaching team went to Edwards' hometown to contact him in advance. Cole's first impression of him was very simple:

"Edwards is young and energetic, but seems to know nothing about basketball, and his seriousness needs to be questioned."

Judging from the content of Cole's interview, the Warriors and Edwards' early training took only an hour to stop early, and Cole told Edwards' training status at the time:

"What I told him is How serious are Durant, Curry and Clay? I told him that my favorite training moment is that when the team's training is over, the three of them will practice their own strengthening practices, and they are serious in actual combat, and they are like this every day. Although incredible, this is the effort that must be put into being a great player. "

Later, the Timberwolves chose Edwards with the No. 1 pick, while the Warriors chose Wiseman with the No. 2 pick. After that, Edwards' second cooperation with Cole will have to wait until the 2023 World Cup. Although they did not win the championship in the end, Edwards became the scoring and rebounding champion of the American men's basketball team. During this journey, Cole also gave Edwards all his strength.

Edwards gave a very high evaluation of his cooperation with Cole:

"He was very good to me and taught me a lot of new tactics, trying to let me learn how to play and read games without holding the ball. Of course, it is not just Coach Cole, but the entire coaching team. Lu, Spo, they all tried to let me find my teammates so that I could get a better chance to go out on my phone."

Under this unruly and slightly arrogant appearance, Edwards has a modest mentality of seizing any opportunity to learn. When Edwards first joined the Timberwolves, he studied Ricky Rubio, followed by Beverly and Conley. Many times, Edwards always likes to sit next to those veteran players, try to learn a move from them, and then find places where you can improve by giving back to yourself.

When these veterans left the team one after another, Edwards began to gradually take over the role of team leader, including the call we mentioned at the beginning when the Wolves were eliminated last season. This kind of thing that should appear on the team leader seemed to be a bit out of place with his rough appearance.

This is not an easy process for the team. After experiencing major deals this season, the Timberwolves need to be able to learn in the new season. As the core of the team, Edwards needs to learn how to lead the team, learn how to shoot, learn how to read the game situation, and pass the basketball to the right teammates at the right time.

has come to this season, and although it finally hit the runner-up position in the Western Conference, the Timberwolves have had a very difficult season. Their record in the first two months of this season was 9 wins and 10 losses, and 21 wins and 19 losses in mid-January. As the top team, Edwards' personal performance has also fluctuated. For example, in the game against the Warriors in early December, Edwards was able to score 30 points and 9 assists, helping the Wolves defeat their opponents 107-90.

But when the two teams met again two days later, he made 6 mistakes when he scored 27 points and 6 assists, especially including losing all six shots in the last four minutes, and additional mistakes, which were taken away by the Warriors with an offensive. There were also games that lost to the Thunder and the Celtics in early January, with a total of 28 shots in two games, scoring 11 goals, scoring 20 points and 15 points respectively.

At this point of time when we learn to find a balance, the team's head coach Chris Finch has always been high standards for Edwards and is more harsh than other players. Even if we have to take more responsibilities as the team leader, Edwards will win the whole game.

After losing to the Warriors, coach Finch spoke to the media after the game:

"In the last five minutes, he only wanted to score, score, score, because he wanted to prove that the Warriors could beat them. But after losing the game, Edwards apologized to the whole team after the game, and he said: This game is my responsibility."

This is the characteristic of Finch, and even the team's main player, he will criticize it publicly. Edwards is also willing to accept these opinions. Although he would say that the team was too weak and criticize his teammates for being unpositive, in the end, he chose to take the responsibility on himself.

In this process of continuous correction, Edwards is still looking for a balance. He is not perfect at the moment, even if he is off the court. His comments in the media are sometimes uncommon and have also given him a lot of fines from the league.

Previously, Edwards publicly declined to become the halo of the league's storefront, saying that he hoped to play basketball, go home and make phone calls, and have fun with relatives and friends. But at the same time, he has become a star guard who averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He was selected as the All-Star for three consecutive years. It is likely that he could not choose whether it is the league's storefront.

"He is the brightest star in the world, and every pair of eyes will be staring at him wherever he goes."

This is what his teammate Randall said of him.

Timberwolves started in March, scoring sixth in the West at the last minute. Since then, Edwards' chance to fulfill his promise has emerged. They defeated the Lakers favored by everyone in the first round and eliminated the Warriors in the semi-finals. Although from some perspectives, the Timberwolves did not encounter much challenge this way, every level is not an easy task for the Wolves or Edwards.

The Lakers' Doncic was the one who eliminated them last season, James and Curry were Edwards' teammates in the US men's basketball team, and Warriors' Butler was the target of hatred for Timberwolves fans. Faced with these opponents, Edwards led the team all the way until he lost to the Thunder who won MVP Alexander in the Western Conference Finals.

In these five games, Edwards' personal performance has been ups and downs. He was able to score 32 points unstoppably, but sometimes he seemed to be in a low point and scored less than 20 points. Facing the Thunder's top defense, Edwards seems to be still looking for some opportunities to break through.

Although he was eliminated early, we can still believe in Edwards. This player is still full of confidence in himself. He is only 23 years old at the moment. This is only his fifth season. Next season, he may still announce his return with great confidence, or perform better.

Even at the moment when we were just out, there are quite a lot of doubts about him in the outside world, but from a long-term perspective, we are still willing to choose to believe him.