Anthony Edwards landed at No. 2 on FanSided's 25-under-25 NBA Player Rankings this season, ranking the best young players in the NBA. Check out the rest of the list here.
No player on this list is more accomplished than Anthony Edwards at this stage of their respective careers. No disrespect is meant to others, including the incomparable Victor Wembanyama, but Edwards has already proven he can get the job done in the regular season and the playoffs alike.
At 24, Edwards is a two-time All-NBA Second Team honoree with three All-Star nods. He's also secured more trips to the Conference Finals as a No. 1 scoring option than Hall of Famers such as Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Dominique Wilkins — combined.
Edwards’ success has been built upon a foundation that boils down to a single word: Prototype. He’s everything a basketball mind could ask for in a shooting guard, from his size, strength, and athleticism to his skill as a slasher, scorer, and playmaker. Even as he figures out how to put it all together, Edwards already has quite a case for being one of the top 10 players in the NBA.
This past season, Edwards averaged 27.6 points and shot a career-best 39.5 percent from beyond the arc—on 10.3 3-point field goal attempts per game. He scored as many as 53 points in a single outing, tallying nine contests with at least 40 and 26 with a minimum of 30.
More importantly, Edwards displayed remarkable poise under pressure. He helped Minnesota overcome a tough start to the season by going 17-4 over the team’s final 21 regular season games. That not only saved the Timberwolves from missing the playoffs, but set the tone for a second consecutive trip to the Conference Finals.
That's a stunning feat, considering the Timberwolves have only reached the Conference Finals three times in their 36 completed seasons — and hadn't been back in 20 years until Edwards led them there in 2024.
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Anthony Edwards can compete with anyone
Perhaps most impressive of all is the fact that Edwards has gone head-to-head with some of the best players in the world and defeated them on a postseason stage. Over the past two seasons, Edwards has been the clear-cut No. 1 scoring option on Minnesota teams that won playoff series over franchises led by the likes of Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, Luka Dončić, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokić.
Having accomplished more than many with a decade more experience than him, Edwards only has so much left to add to his résumé. He's built tremendous momentum toward achieving what's left, including the realistic goals of winning MVP, taking home a scoring title, and going a round further to reach the NBA Finals.
It's all easier said than done, but it's a testament to the all-time brilliance Edwards has already displayed that it's within the realm of possibility for him. It's less conjecture and optimism, and more a matter of following the trends that have defined Edwards' rise to prominence.
A generational athlete who effortlessly soars above defenders for highlight reel finishes as quickly as he buries jumpers with elite volume and efficiency, Edwards is offense personified. This past season, he ranked No. 1 in the NBA in pull-up three-point field goals made per game while shooting 38.5 percent on said attempts — a more efficient mark than those produced by the next seven players in the top 10 in volume.
It's a truth that has the rest of the NBA terrified by what the next chapter of Edwards' career could entail. Only Stephen Curry averaged more three-point field goals made per game than Edwards in 2024-25, and the gap was small enough that it could be closed at a mere 0.3.
Already mentioned with Kevin Garnett as the greatest players in Timberwolves history, Edwards has done more before 25 than a vast majority of players will accomplish in their entire careers.