Anthony Edwards went off on Wednesday night, and it wasn’t in the game.
The Timberwolves star had a lot of frustration to share after Minnesota lost to the Kings, and tallied their fourth straight loss in a row.
“We thought defense was our identity, and it’s not looking like that,” Edwards said in the locker room. “Our identity right now, me and Mike [Conley] was talking about it, I think is we soft as hell as a team, internally. Not to the other team, but like internally we soft, like we can’t talk to each other. Just a bunch of little kids, just like we playing with a bunch of little kids. Like everybody, like the whole team, we just can’t talk to each other and we gotta figure it out, man, because we can’t go down this road.”
He spoke at length, not holding much back, but the most interesting flag came in Edwards comments about the team as a whole. He noted that everyone on the team had their “own agenda”, which made it particularly difficult for him, as the de facto leader, to get them on the same page. Wolves beat reporter for the Star Tribune, Chris Hine, said Edwards lamented the team was “growing apart”, partly because it felt so difficult to have honest conversations with teammates.
It’s worth noting that as a relatively new leader and a relatively young star, this is Edwards first ride through the tumultuousness that can result from a big NBA trade — swapping Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle — and the doldrums of a once blisteringly competitive team not playing up to its potential. He also commented on the fans booing the team at home, something he’s not yet had to face as first a rookie phenom and later, a bonafide star.
On top of ego (what I took from Edwards comments about individual agendas) management, Edwards and the Wolves are struggling with the loss of their identity as a defensive powerhouse. There’s been no easy nor immediate foundation for the team to fall back on and regroup. It leads to a problem that quickly shifts into existential territory, rather than something that can be solved by switching up rotations, watching film, drilling their way out — though Minnesota is going to have to do all those things too.
The structural problems the Wolves face on the floor have a lot to do with spacing. Randle and Rudy Gobert get in each other’s way and aren’t necessarily gelling just yet. Donte DiVincenzo, who also arrived in the pre-season trade, was intended to be a scoring ballast but his 3-point shooting has fallen off a cliff. But when you peel back the layers not an awful lot has changed structurally for the Wolves, which is why a rift like this bubbling to the surface in frustration feels deeper, and speaks to team identity.
Teams hit plateaus. The Wolves enjoyed a searing playoff run last year, surprising everyone by knocking out the Nuggets. It isn’t to say the team over-performed, or played beyond their capabilities, but postseason momentum is a very real thing. Rolling into this season it looked as if the same team would stay intact and with it, that same momentum. It’s fair to say now how handily the team’s big trade disrupted it. Minnesota is a talented, competent team, and venting can help to clear the air. This is a team that can right itself but given the internal disconnect now on display, it may take longer than anticipated.
