MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota has Georgia on its mind.
With the first pick of the NBA draft Wednesday night, the Timberwolves selected Georgia guard and Atlanta native Anthony Edwards to become the latest significant piece to surround its young core of center Karl-Anthony Towns and guard D'Angelo Russell.
Since the coronavirus delayed both the draft lottery and the draft, there has been months of speculation over how the Wolves would handle the pick. Would they trade it? If they kept it, who would they pick, especially in a year that did not have a consensus top pick. They answered that Wednesday night.
Edwards brings tantalizing athleticism and playmaking ability to the table and is the kind of guard who seems suited to playing off another more dominant point guard like Russell.
He averaged 19.1 points per game in his lone year at Georgia. The Wolves love to shoot a lot of 3s and Edwards shot just 29% from 3-point range, but draft analysts seem to think that with better shot selection and the spaced out nature of the NBA that number could go up with time.
The knocks against Edwards have been his energy and intensity level, similar to what the Wolves had with Andrew Wiggins. At Georgia, he could have extended periods or entire games where he wasn't much of a factor but has vowed to work on that.
"He doesn't always play hard and his decision making can be very questionable at times," analyst Matt Babcock said before the draft. "He very well may be the best player to come out of this draft class, but due to his immaturity as a player, there is a decent amount of risk."
He also has professed to work on his defensive acumen.
"A lot of people don't think I play defense, but I feel like I'm a really good defensive player," Edwards said.
Edwards has dealt with a lot in his personal life with both his mother and grandmother, who helped raise him, dying when he was 14.
Georgia coach Tom Crean said the Wolves would be getting a "19-year-old with a huge heart."
"He is very confident and serious about his work but truly enjoys the laughter and banter that goes on in a team," Crean said. "He's very, very comfortable with who he is. He's also very nonjudgmental. He's looking for the good in people."
Crean has coached some other high NBA draft picks like Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo and like them, Edwards has a "self-starter work ethic," Crean said.
"He's like them in that he's a great teammate because he genuinely wants to see his teammates succeed," Crean said. "They all have great hearts and personalities."
In that way Edwards should fit into the family-style culture the Wolves are trying to build. Wiggins by all accounts was also a nice guy and a good teammate but the results weren't what fans or the team hoped for night in and night out.
Edwards won't be expected to be the franchise star like Wiggins was upon arrival. He just has to help complement Towns and Russell, and that's all President Gersson Rosas has said about his expectations for whoever the Wolves ended up picking first.
"We're not praying this guy is a franchise piece," Rosas said in August. "We're not praying that this guy is our No. 1 player."
But it wouldn't hurt if he became that.
