The Minnesota Timberwolves kicked the preseason off on Saturday night with a showdown against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The outing was billed as a battle between two of the Western Conference’s more intriguing young groups.
Ultimately, Memphis prevailed with a 107-105 victory.
One of the things many were looked forward to seeing was how the Wolves’ No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Edwards, performed.
Edwards came into the game off the bench and struggled to find his shot. He completely missed the rim on his first attempt and then proceeded to miss his next two shots. He finally managed to get some buckets in the second quarter, finishing with five points on 2-for-9 shooting.
After the game, Minnesota Timberwolves point guard D’Angelo Russell gave his honest impression of the rookie.
“I like his game,” Russell said.
“He doesn’t force it. He’s trying to make the right play out there. He’s getting to his spots. He wasn’t making shots and that’s an adjustment, but he’s got some flavor to him.”
Minnesota was said to be going back and forth between selecting Edwards out of Georgia, James Wiseman out of Memphis and LaMelo Ball with the top pick in this year’s draft.
After putting a lot of thought into the decision and shopping the pick around, the front office settled on Edwards.
Yikes Klay. https://t.co/xh2s7olPJs
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 12, 2020
Prior to the draft, Edwards made some headlines when he described his lack of love for the sport of basketball. Some saw it as a huge warning sign, while others dismissed it as no big deal.
Ultimately, the top overall picks always face a lot of scrutiny – and Edwards likely won’t be any different.
How will he ultimately fare this year?
Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.