top of page

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Thanks for subscribing!

Writer's pictureSteven Poss

Who Is The Face Of This Western Conference NBA Team In 22-23

After making his first All-Star game this season, Anthony Edwards has solidified his status as the alpha male of this Minnesota Timberwolves pack. He has improved every season in his young career and is incredibly deserving of the All-Star nod this season.

Offensive Prowess

After being the first overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft, he has continued to grow and even excel in most game stages. He started at 19.3 points per game his rookie season, 21.3 his sophomore season, and has gone up to 24.6 points per game this season. 

Virtually every measurable statistic for Edwards has gotten better over his time in the league besides his turnovers increasing. This can be explained by the fact that he continues to get the ball in his hands more often and can be relied upon in clutch situations.

He started with only 4.7 rebounds per game in his rookie season, 4.8 his sophomore season, and up to 5.9 this season. His passing has also improved, with 2.9 assists per game his rookie season, 3.8 his sophomore season, and 4.6 this season. 

His field goal and three-point percentage have also shown steady improvement every season. 

Shutdown Defense

He has also improved his defensive statistics with 1.1 steals per game his rookie season, 1.5 his sophomore season, and 1.6 this season. In addition, his blocks went from 0.5 per game his rookie season and 0.6 the next two seasons. 

Where Does Karl Anthony Towns Fit In Now?

Where Anthony Edwards has been steadily rising these past couple of seasons, Karl Anthony Towns has been falling/digressing.

He is not the dominant player he once was. He has been hurt or injured a fair amount of the past four seasons after being reliable and available his first four seasons.

In his first four seasons, he missed a total of five games. However, he has missed a whopping 97 regular season games over the past four seasons!

Anthony Edwards has missed ten games over his first two and a half seasons. To answer the question, “Where does Karl Anthony Towns fit in now?” Simply put, he doesn’t. 

Two Bigs

The Timberwolves’ trade for Rudy Gobert was intended to allow the Wolves to put a larger lineup on the floor and to punish other teams for being smaUnfortunately, with. With Kat’s injury woes this season, that has not been able to happen. 

The Timberwolves’ record is a fair amount better without him than in the 21 games he has played this season. With KAT on the floor, the Wolves are 10-11. Without him, they are 20-18. 

Another Transition?

For an organization that seems to be in a constant state of transition, it looks like it should be transitioning to a life without KAT. Instead, he has been more of a negative influence than a positive when he plays due to his arguing calls and not getting down the floor to play defense. 

While Rudy Gobert will never be the shooter that KAT is, he is a much more consistent and reliable defender. In addition, he is willing to go down low and do the dirty work that a traditional big man is supposed to do. 

With the addition of Mike Conley Jr., it seems that Gobert’s play will continue to improve and could make KAT the odd man out. Also, by getting rid of D’Angelo Russell (who KAT persuaded the previous management to pursue), the current administration could show that they do not care what KAT thinks.

One could argue that KAT is still the face of this Timberwolves franchise, but it is becoming more and more apparent that Anthony Edwards is ready to take over. Thanks for reading, and keep coming back to stadiumrant.com for all your sports news needs!

 
4 views
bottom of page