Draymond Green Speaks Volumes on Anthony Edwards’ Potential; Wolves’ Future

Draymond Green has one of the most popular basketball podcasts on the internet. His opinions carry weight around NBA circles, too. Not only has he won it all FOUR times with the Golden State Warriors, but Draymond is still a high-functioning starter and played a major role in their 2021-22 championship run.

So when he opens up The Draymond Green Show (via The Volume) spewing opinions about the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first 8 minutes, people listen. I recommend everyone listens to all of those 8 minutes themselves, but I’ve highlighted a few moments below.

Anthony Edwards, the Superstar

After introducing the trade and talking about some of the cost it took for the Minnesota Timberwolves to get the deal done, Green dives into Anthony Edwards and why this deal signals the Wolves’ belief that Ant is a on his way to superstar status.

Draymond agrees with the Wolves higher-ups, that Ant is a blossoming superstar. That’s part of why he sees this as the biggest takeaway of the aggressive move to land Rudy Gobert. Ant is ‘the one’ and we need to surround him with the pieces to help him lead us to the promised land.

“KAT’s been there. They weren’t trading the #1 pick, [instead of drafting Edwards]. They weren’t trading picks anytime before that or really after. But they’re in win now mode because I think Minnesota thinks they have a superstar in Anthony Edwards. And by the way, I believe they do. So, you pair Rudy Gobert with him, Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, you’re saying, ‘I can win right now’.” – The Draymond Green Show

Investing in centers

Green is a big fan of his old teammate and good friend, D’Angelo Russell, who he raves about for a few seconds before moving onto possible downsides to this trade. That leads him to the heavy investment the Minnesota Timberwolves have now placed into their center position.

Draymond claims Karl-Anthony Towns is too big to be a power forward, so the way he sees it, the Wolves have nearly $500 million wrapped up in a position that has nearly gone extinct throughout the NBA. Clearly, Green goes onto allude to, Minnesota is choosing to zig, hoping they catch zagging teams off-guard and without answers.

“The downside of that move? You have $450 million wrapped up in the center position. You can say, alright Karl-Anthony Towns is moving to the 4. But I still can’t view [KAT] as a 4 because 4’s are 6’2” in the NBA these days. I mean, I’m a center in the NBA these days. How do you continue to acquire depth?” – The Draymond Green Show

Raising the youngsters

When there’s no money to spend for NBA GM’s, they have to grow and develop the talent on their roster. And that’s where Draymond Green goes next. If they Minnesota Timberwolves are going to take that next step as a franchise, they’ll have to develop guys like Jaden McDaniels, who Green expects to take a step forward this season.

But eventually, this part of the conversation led Draymond to return full-circle to Anthony Edwards. Much like I talked about on Minnesota Sports Fan Daily Thursday night, it’s Ant who holds the destiny of the Timberwolves in his hands. Green again reiterates that he believes in Edwards, as well, and even gives him a personal message for him to carry into the offseason.

“They are building around Anthony Edwards, who’s a young star in the making. The thing that I love about Anthony Edwards is that, he’s got the game. He can talk it, he can walk it, he got the personality. He got what it takes to be one of those guys. Minnesota sees that. They’re going all-in on that. And I think it’s a beautiful thing. Now, if you’re Ant-Man, you gotta be in that gym this summer. Because essentially, what that’s saying is, ‘we think we have a star’. Which means you need to be an All Star next year. You need to continue to grow.” – The Draymond Green Show

Draymond intrigued like the rest of us

Green closed his segment on the Timberwolves by talking about his excitement to play against them next season. He believes there are some things the Warriors can take advantage of but, in the end, he’s intrigued by this new look Wolves, headed by a more aggressive front office that he’s never really seen make a major splash move like this.

I can’t believe we have to wait three months to watch all of this start to play out.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan