Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards works hard to improve. He just needs more sleep.

Every summer, Timberwolves assistant coach Chris Hines knows he’s going to lose weight.

The intense workouts he does with Anthony Edwards that time of year are the prime reason. Hines has worked with Edwards since the Wolves guard’s second season in the NBA, and never over that time did the scale say what it said for Hines entering Year 6.

It’s one thing to say this might have been the hardest-working offseason Edwards had in the gym. Hines had the numbers to back it up.

“Probably one of my most intense summers with him. I think I lost 15 pounds working with him. It was crazy,” Hines said. “I stepped on the scale and it was 185 — and I haven’t been 185 since I played.”

This was the first summer in the last three that Edwards didn’t play internationally.

He took some overseas trips, like one to China, in association with Adidas and other brands with which he is signed, but he also spent plenty of time in Minnesota working on a midrange and post-up game.

“I feel like I was able to actually work on my game,” Edwards said. “In two years, it’s been a long time. … I missed competing, for sure, because that’s competing at the highest level with the best players to ever play the game, but I definitely missed more being able to work on my game and add another piece to my game, so I think that added another dimension.”

Edwards is 24 years old now and has led the Wolves to back-to-back Western Conference finals appearances, but he received some criticism nationally for how he performed, especially against the Oklahoma City Thunder last spring in a five-game elimination series.

As his business manager, Justin Holland, said in a recent interview, Edwards had “a different look in his eye” after hearing some of the noise this summer.

Will that translate into an even better Edwards in Year 6?

Sleep has always been something Edwards never thought he needed.

As a teen, Edwards would stay up playing video games until 3 or 4 in the morning, then wake up for school at about 6 a.m.

As the Wolves open the season Wednesday night in Portland, they are asking more of Edwards and themselves as a team when it comes to getting out in transition and ball pressure on defense. That will require a lot of effort and running to execute.

Here was Edwards’ answer when asked last week how he was going to handle all those responsibilities.

“Step one is getting more sleep,” Edwards said. “If I get more sleep, I’ll be all right.”

Edwards said David Hines, vice president of medical operations and performance, told him getting nine to 10 hours of sleep per night would be ideal.

“I said: ‘I’m not there yet. … We’ll start with seven to eight,’" Edwards remembered. “This summer, I’ve been trying to get seven to eight.

The Wolves especially want Edwards to ramp up his intensity on the defensive end of the floor.

He expects to spend more minutes getting what he calls the “‘A’ matchup,” guarding the other team’s best scoring option, instead of leaving that for Jaden McDaniels.

“As the head of the snake, sometimes you’ve just got to take those matchups,” Edwards said.

It’s also a way Edwards can engage himself against opponents that are lower in the standings, an issue for the Wolves the past few seasons. They take it a little easier against teams that might not have a lot to play for, and that has cost them victories.

“I can’t guard one game and not guard the next game because we’re playing, you know, somebody who’s not up to par,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to be ready every night, and I’m going to take pride in that. I told my teammates to hold me accountable, coaches included.”

“We can’t make Jaden guard the best player every night,” Edwards said. “Some nights, he’s got to get the ‘B’ player, let me get the ‘A’ player.”

But Hines, who said Edwards was waking him up at 5 a.m. for workouts when they were in China, is skeptical that Edwards is getting the right amount of sleep.

The two often have late-night text exchanges, well past midnight, of ideas or film clips to dissect the game. Those haven’t stopped.

“I wish he would get more sleep,” Hines said. “I don’t think his brain shuts off. His body shuts off sometimes. That’s just the DNA maybe of who he is. I haven’t seen him sleep any more, any less.”

One thing different about Edwards this season is he said he will get better in areas that have traditionally been the weakest parts of his game — the midrange game, the post-up game and defense.

“He’s super intrigued about being really good in that area, because he knows it’s hard for teams to double team him from there,” Hines said. “And if they do, they’re easier reads.”

Edwards spent some of the preseason working on his post-ups in games. Coach Chris Finch has said this will be a complementary, not a primary, feature of the offense.

“Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes we’re unsure what to do around him. So we got to clean all that up,” Finch said. “... We feel like it’s a good way to take advantage of [his skills], and he’s done a good job of adding that to his game.”

Hines said the speed with which Edwards operates out of that area will be crucial. Making a move before the defense sets up, or being quick to react to what the defense is doing, will help create shots.

“We did a lot of footwork stuff,” Hines said. “A lot of detail in terms of where to catch it, why you catch it there, what do your angles look like? Just different type of moves. How do you face up? Where do you go quick when you have the ball? Or where do you go slow when you have the ball?”

The two have established a channel of communication over the last few years through a mutual contact.

“The best tip he gave me is most people lean on people in the post with [their butt],” Edwards said. “He do it with the top part of his back. So I think I learned that from him.”

But Hines said he and Edwards haven’t just looked at film of Jordan and Kobe Bryant when it comes to fine-tuning that part of his game. They’ve also looked at players like Mitch Richmond, Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony.

“Most of those guards who had a strong back-to-the-basket game, but had like finesse footwork,” Hines said. “Obviously, Melo was a bruiser. I think [Edwards] can have some of that in his game how strong he is. He can be finesse, but he’s also strong as hell, too. He has to utilize both.”

Edwards has always wanted to prove he can be a good shooter.

So, with Edwards working on his midrange (where he shot 38% last season) and post-up games, Hines expects him to show it off early in the season.

“So he’s going to probably, in the first couple games, go a little bit bonkers and we’ll reel him back,” Hines said. “Say, ‘Hey, bro, play the game the right way.’ That’s his competitive nature.”

Edwards said to motivate himself against sub-.500 teams, he might go for personal scoring records on those nights.

“That’s how I’m going to try to do it,” Edwards said. “Because I usually approach it like, ‘Ah, I’m going to let my teammates get that.’ ... Instead, I’m just going to go for a career high. I think that’s how I’m going to stay engaged.”

There’s another aspect of Edwards that has grown in recent years — his leadership.

That became more evident last season, and it has played a part into why Edwards is recommitting himself to the defensive end of the floor.

“He feels like he has to with this team due to where he is in terms of leadership,” Hines said. “He knows if he plays defense, everybody else will play defense around him. He’s trying to set the tone there.”

The Wolves have been close to a championship, but the Thunder series made it feel as if they still have a long way to go. Wednesday begins the sixth installment of Edwards’ career, and the NBA will soon find out whether he and the Wolves have closed that gap.