Editor’s Note: We’re excited to see our very own Matt Harren, better known as harebear in the comments section, taking the brave dive onto the Canis front page. You’ll be seeing a lot more from Matt this season, so please give him a warm welcome!
During the 2020 NBA Draft, just after the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Anthony Edwards 1st overall, the Wolves traded James Johnson and the 17th pick (Aleksej Pokuševski) to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 23rd pick (Leandro Bolmaro), the 28th pick (Jaden McDaniels), and Wolves legend Ricky Rubio.
Then-Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gersson Rosas returned the fan favorite PG less than a year after declaring, “Why didn’t we sign a point guard on July 1st? Because we wanted that point guard,” hinting at the team’s belief in D’Angelo Russell. During Edwards’ first season, he took his first NBA steps under the tutelage of two very different guards.
Since then, Minnesota’s point guard play has remained in flux. For Edwards, each mentor guard has imparted lessons on what to do and what not to do. As the Wolves embark on a new season with another new guard – this time a peer from Ant’s draft class – I wanted to look back at Ant’s growth and the point guards that helped him get there and question what is next if his partnership with LaMelo Ball is to flourish.
Ricky Rubio
It was Rubio who rekindled my love for Timberwolves basketball again, years after the Garnett trade. I was more excited about the return of flashy passes than the Dion Waiters-comped Edwards.
After helping Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns reach stardom, Ricky was brought in to work his magic with Edwards.
Since his first stint with the Wolves, Rubio was beloved for his ability to raise the level of the players around him. As a pass-first point guard with a limited shot, defenders dared him to let it fly. Despite this coverage, on-time passes still zipped from his fingers like notes from a Flamenco guitar player. Early Ricky cared about basketball and playing with joy.
After season-ending injuries, unexpected trades, and losing loved ones, Ricky became jaded with the business side of the profession. Nevertheless, on the court he played with all of himself. Ant gravitated to that. Per Chris Hine, then of the Star Tribune, Ant spoke about Ricky after Chris Finch’s first win as the Wolves head coach.
“He leads by example and communication. Some leaders, they’re going to lead by example. Some of them lead by talking, but Ricky, he does both,” Edwards said. “He’s the best leader I’ve been around all my life.”
Ricky knew his limitations: an inconsistent shot, subpar athleticism. He could also read the floor better than most and maximize the talents of his teammates. It is not a great leap to think he saw the potential in Ant and laid out the path for him.
Edwards has spent every year since improving. Offseason reporting notes that Ant reached out to Jonathan Kuminga, selling the free agent on his importance to the Wolves. At Jaylen Clark’s training camp, Edwards called Ball and had the campers wish him a happy birthday.
While Edwards is still rising into his prime, he has faced the gauntlet of the playoffs and been dismissed early. His talent is otherwordly, far eclipsing the skills of his first PG mentor, and like Rubio, he knows the summit is only reached when everyone is playing at their best.
Patrick Beverley
During the 2021-22 offseason, the Wolves traded Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez to the Memphis Grizzlies for Patrick Beverley.
After a career that first started in the EuroLeague before earning All-Defensive honors, along with some suspensions for reckless play — he missed the Wolves’ first game of the season for shoving Chris Paul in the back during the Western Conference Finals — many thought Beverley’s best years were in the distant rearview.
With the very young Wolves, Pat Bev found a group brimming with raw talent and little cohesion. Through unrelenting effort and arrogance disguised as brash confidence, Mr. 94 Feet made the Wolves believe in themselves enough to stop being polite after the whistle was blown.
Beverley played with a chip on his shoulder but held a special place for any team or player he felt slighted by. He loathed Chris Paul after he was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in a trade for the All-Star Guard. He went through a euphoric episode after helping the Wolves defeat the Clippers, who had dumped him in Memphis, during the Play-In Tournament.
The Wolves were bounced by those same Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. A few months later, Pat Bev sent to Utah as part of the Rudy Gobert trade.
What he left was a Wolves team no longer just happy to be there. For Ant, each playoff appearance since has put him against the Western Conference team that would eventually reach the Finals. In every one of those series, Ant has played with the full, near-arrogant belief that he was the best player in the series.
Confidence is key. But overconfidence has its downfalls as well, as we can see in the next guard’s tenure.
D’Angelo Russell
I thought it was going to work.
I fell for the upstart 2019 Brooklyn Nets and D’Angelo Russell.
I was heartbroken when D’Lo chose to sign with the Golden State Warriors over the Wolves.
I nearly let out a yelp of excitement in the middle of a work call when the Woj Bomb dropped.
I was wrong. The cerebral player I thought Russell was, was a facade. A master of after-the-fact analysis, the Ohio State product could accurately walkthrough any segment of the game and tell you what went right and wrong.
When the next game came around, though, it was a coin toss on whether his words would turn into action. He was benched during Ant’s first playoff series against the Grizzlies due to his shot selection, pace of play, and defensive limitations. Taking his place was the smaller undrafted guard Jordan McLaughlin, who outperformed the max-contract player and better executed Coach Finch’s vision.
The next season, the Wolves traded for Gobert. They envisioned Rudy covering D’Lo’s defensive weaknesses and Russell creating lobs from a Rudy pick-and-roll.
None of it came to fruition.
Early in the failed attempt, Russell had come to the conclusion that he couldn’t work with Gobert.The fruit of their partnership withered on the vine. By the trade deadline, the Wolves swapped point guards, bringing in the steady and familiar hand of Mike Conley.
Throughout it all, Ant had a front-row seat to Russell’s behavior. He saw the price of arrogance and what happens when teammates give up on each other.
Ant has clearly prioritized never being in that position. In one breath, he can call out Karl-Anthony Towns to stop fouling — as he did during the 2024 series against the Suns — and in the next, tell President Barack Obama to keep Towns’ name out of his mouth.
Hey, not all of these lessons came from good role models.
Mike Conley
Mike Conley is a pro’s pro. The one-time All-Star was a part of the Grit-n-Grind Grizzlies, the Mitchell/Gobert Utah Jazz, and landed on the Timberwolves in the midst of a failing Towns-and-Gobert double-big experiment. He spent a few games post-trade understanding his new team and their preferences, and then set to work doing what he has always done: involving everyone.
Conley has a preternatural ability to know who hasn’t touched the basketball in a while and the empathic selflessness to get that player the ball in a place where they feel effective. What’s more, this sixth sense for the right play doesn’t need to be flashy. Its often simple, effectively communicated, and leads to trust.
Entering his first full season with the Wolves, he organized the offense, making Rudy effective with lob dunks, finding KAT on the perimeter for threes, and empowering McDaniels and especially Ant to attack, all while putting his body on the line on defense.
His efforts helped the Wolves reach their second-ever Western Conference Finals in 2024, going back again the next year. When he was traded this past February, then traded again and waived, the Wolves were desperate to bring the PG back to help maintain the locker room. He came back to the Wolves searching for the championship that eluded him, the crown jewel in a laudable career.
Ant grew into superstardom, into the team’s leader, into an adult under the mentorship of Conley. He learned how to make the simple play and take what the game gave him. Sadly, the last and greatest lesson Conley, now signed with the Boston Celtics, imparted was simple.
Don’t take this for granted…
Himself
Just before tipoff of the 2025-26 season, the Timberwolves made a starting lineup change. Out was Mike Conley, and in was Donte DiVincenzo. As such, primary ball-handling duties went to Edwards.
This season-long experiment put the ball in Ant’s hands. There it stayed for possession after possession. Somehow, despite it all, he averaged nearly one fewer assist per game.
His opponents sent double teams as he crossed half-court. He’d fight for freedom and burn precious energy that left him sagging on defense. Edwards vacillated between spreading the ball around and chucking, finding success and failure in both approaches. His passes to less capable shooters left his shoulders sagging. His early shot-clock bricks brought the same response from his teammates.
In the second round playoff matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, a hobbled Edwards was hounded. His teammates struggled to offer him effective options and the Wolves were sent home looking for answers.
The Point Ant experiment was a failure. It’s not easy to feed yourself and the team all at once.
LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets two spots behind Anthony Edwards. Like the Wolves of that era, the Hornets were also mired in year over year ineptitude. LaMelo beat out Ant for Rookie of the Year, and made his first — and at this writing, only — All-Star appearance a year before Edwards. Since then injuries, erratic and unserious shot selection, a steady rotation of coaching changes, and off-court erratic driving has marred some of the shine on the promising 6’7” point guard. That he was traded for Naz Reid (winced as I typed that), a first round pick and some swaps shows just what the Hornets thought of Ball’s future in the league.
For Tim Connelly and Chris Finch, they believe Melo’s ability to see over defenses offers something Ant has never played with, an athletic pass-first point guard who teams have to guard close. Melo should elevate every teammate with his passing. He’ll make some of them feel like superheroes with alley oops. The cost of this for the Wolves, including Ant, is defensive effort to save Melo when he is attacked. When Melo’s passes are too audacious, he’ll need to hear it from his teammates as well as Finch.
While there is excitement about the pairing of two of the league’s best backcourt players, the immaturity label has been used on both of them. Ant has improved each year. He has learned hard lessons from his point guard mentors.
To peel off the immaturity tag, Ant’s next lesson is to become like the mentors who shaped him.
