Analysis: Another leap for Ant? Wolves’ Anthony Edwards is improving his game in Year 6.

Anthony Edwards is in his sixth NBA season, but he is still only 24 years old. These two numbers can lead to some conflicting viewpoints among fans. In six seasons, it’s easy to say Edwards should have the league figured out by now after more than half a decade in it — that he should be consistently great night in and night out.

Last season, when he was struggling to run the offense in clutch situations, the natural question was: Why? Why does he keep doing the same things, settling for the same tough shots?

It was also in January last season that Edwards complained about the volume of double teams he was facing. How far both things have come in a year. Yes, there are things you still learn as your career progresses in the NBA. You don’t figure it all out after four or five years.

That’s where being 24 comes in. Edwards is already a three-time All-Star guard, but he is still about three or four years away from entering what are considered peak years in the NBA: his late 20s. It wasn’t until age 27 that future Hall of Famers such as Stephen Curry and LeBron James won their first titles.

The season Edwards is having in 2025-26 is proof that even in Year 6, you can still build on your game. For instance, you can still learn how to manage late-game situations and how to deal with double teams better.

For all the talk about what the Wolves need to round out this roster at the trade deadline, there was always one surefire way the Wolves could close the gap between being a conference finals participant and becoming a true championship contender: Edwards making another leap.

The past two seasons, Edwards has been a second-team All-NBA player. But there is room for more, for Edwards to become a first-team All-NBA player and a potential MVP candidate. It hasn’t been the smoothest of seasons for the Wolves, but it feels as if Edwards is leveling up halfway through it.

So was his 23-point performance in his previous game, a victory over the Spurs at Target Center on Jan. 11, before he missed the next two games because of a right foot injury.

Edwards is shooting 72% in the clutch this season, better than every major star in the NBA and better than the 43% he shot last season. That percentage will fluctuate. But if you watch Edwards operate late in games, it’s easy to see the difference. Less settling for shots, more probing of the defense, more options to his game from the midrange and post. And he will make the right play when faced with double teams as opposed to forcing shots.

About those double teams: The calendar had just turned to 2025 when Edwards complained after a loss to the Boston Celtics that he was giving the ball up too much and it was bothering him. Since then, Edwards said recently he has become “super comfortable” in dealing with those looks.

Edwards has always improved gradually when it comes to mastering the game. The comparison I like to use when I explain Edwards’ development is that he’s like one kind of piano player. There are some who are just naturals, who can hear a song, sit down and keep up with the band. There are some NBA players who have that level of feel for the game from a young age. Edwards is like a player who needs the sheet music, for a metronome or a drummer to help keep him in time, and he needs to rehearse. He has the capability of playing the song at a high level, he just needs reps before mastering it.