Karl-Anthony Towns talked about the playoffs. D'Angelo Russell said the Timberwolves would be improved next season but stopped short of predicting playoffs. Malik Beasley maintained the team was headed in the right direction.
Anthony Edwards exits loud, promises Timberwolves playoff push next season
Season-ending interviews can be a bit stale. But Anthony Edwards turned up the volume when talking about what he expects next season.
May 18, 2021 at 11:51AM
Leave it to the kid.
Anthony Edwards pretty much guaranteed it.
"Yeah, that's not even to talk about," he said. "We definitely [are] going to make a strong push for the playoffs next year."
OK, then. This from the youngest player on the Timberwolves, whose rookie season ended with a flourish and him leading all rookies in scoring (19.3). Season-ending interviews can be a bit stale. But not Edwards Monday.
His scoring average is the most by a Wolves rookie ever, his 172 made threes is the second most in franchise history. His four games with 30 or more points ties Towns and Andrew Wiggins for most by a rookie. He played in all 72 games. And now, more:
"I'm ready to go to the playoffs," he said after earning his third consecutive Western Conference rookie of the month award. "I know this is my first year, but I Just see how happy teams [are], knowing they're gonna play more basketball. So I want that feeling next year."
He wasn't done. Here is Edwards on a few other topics:
• He felt like he was the team's best player at time. "That just tells me if I work extremely hard, then there ain't too much people can do."
• His personal goal: "I'm trying to be an All Star," he said. "It's something I'm going to work for."
One more story: Edwards, 19, talked about his close relationship with 30-year-old Ricky Rubio. In training camp Edwards took a last-second shot and missed. Those shots are for Russell and Towns. But as Edwards games progressed, Rubio became a believer. "He was like, 'Yo, now you can take those shots.'"
After Sunday's game ended, Rubio pulled Edwards aside and told him how proud he was of him. "He was like, 'Look how far you've come.' "
Acknowledging KG
The Wolves had a video package Sunday congratulating Kevin Garnett on his Hall of Fame induction. On Monday, President Gersson Rosas was asked if the franchise had any plans to acknowledge more publicly Garnett's legacy with the team.
Garnett has stayed away from such things, like a jersey retirement, with the Wolves because of his frayed relationship with owner Glen Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune. Rosas indicated perhaps there was some movement on that front headed into next season.
"There is a number of conversations that are being held, both with Kevin and his group," Rosas said. "Kevin is an icon in this organization, and has really led this organization to some of its greatest times, and any opportunity that we can have to honor him, honor his career, honor his enshrinement into the Hall of Fame is something that's important, not only to me, but to this organization."
Beasley focused
Beasley said legal issues will not prevent him from his offseason conditioning plans.
"Nothing will affect my ability to get better, whether that's at home or anywhere else."
Beasley has been sentenced to 120 days of at-home monitoring or in a workhouse after pleading guilty to a charge of threats of violence after pointing a rifle at a family outside his home last fall.
It's unclear whether he will serve that time in the Hennepin County workhouse or with electric home monitoring.
"I'm always going to make sure I work mentally or physically," he said. "I'm going to work hard continuously and get ready for next season."
Beasley has been out of action with a hamstring injury since late April, though recently has resumed on-court workouts.
The players communicated through a group text chain to pull themselves out of a four-game losing streak. But the thread is used for other ways to bond and build camaraderie.
