You would think one of the worst franchises in modern sports history, one that constantly makes exceedingly high draft selections, would have a long history of great rookies and Rookie of the Year Award winners. Well, if you thought that about the Minnesota Timberwolves, you would be wrong. They missed the playoffs for the 23rd time in 32 seasons this year, but for the three decades of suffering and 25 lottery selections, Wolves rookies have only won the Rookie of the Year Award twice. Andrew Wiggins, who was selected first overall in 2014 by the Cleveland Cavaliers before getting traded by LeBron James for Kevin Love, was the ROY in 2014. And Karl-Anthony Towns went back-to-back with Wiggins in 2015.
That’s it, that’s the list.
Anthony Edwards is tantalizingly close to adding a third name to that list. The 19-year-old Georgian played all 72 games this season and quickly became one of the most exciting players in the NBA. Edwards averaged 19.3 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and just over a steal with a 41.7/32.9/77.6 shooting split. That’s a damn sexy stat line coming from a teenager who only found out where he would begin his NBA odyssey a month before his first game.
Edwards’ hot play down the stretch may have pulled him neck and neck with LaMelo Ball for the 2021 Rookie of the Year Award, but where does his stellar freshman season rank in the annals of Timberwolves history?
Seven rookie seasons in Minnesota’s illustrious history stand head and shoulders above the rest:
- Christian Laettner was the franchise’s first real impact rookie in 1992.
- Kevin Garnett changed the trajectory of the Timberwolves in 1995.
- A year later, Stephon Marbury gave KG a bonafide sidekick.
- Fast forward to 2008 when Kevin Love was a walking double-double in his first year.
- The two ROY winners, Wiggins and Towns, are next in 2014 and 2015.
- Edwards’ campaign this season rounds out the list.
Starting with the man everyone loves to hate, Christian Laettner was taken with the third pick in the 1992 NBA draft. The reigning NCAA Player of the Year had a solid season for a 19-63 team, averaging 18.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The big difference between Laettner and Edwards is that Laettner was far more polished upon entering the NBA. He was a four-year star at Duke and played on the Dream Team before making his NBA debut. Ant was drafted after his freshman year and didn’t have any offseason experience before being thrown in the deep end thanks to COVID. Because of that and the fact that Laettner played 35 minutes a game, we’ll give the nod to Edwards.
Next up is the greatest player in franchise history and newly minted NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket changed the league in 1995 when he became the first player in 20 years to enter the NBA right out of high school. While his 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game don’t jump off the page 26 years later, it was evident right away that he belonged in the NBA. Edwards is in a similar situation: A young kid with many haters doubting him every step of the way. KG put it all together and had one of the greatest careers of all time, but Edwards has a slight advantage if we’re just comparing rookie years.
Marbury might be the most similar to Edwards coming out of college. A highlight-reel prospect from a college in Georgia with plenty of skeptics, Starbury fit right in alongside KG, averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 assists per game as a 19-year-old budding superstar. He finished second to Allen Iverson in Rookie of the Year voting. This could be the toughest decision, but recency bias prevails as Edwards’ post-All-Star Game domination carries the day.
Now we hit the dark times. Twelve years between Marbury and Kevin Love’s rookie seasons saw the best stretch of play from the Wolves, but cap chicanery with Joe Smith, draft whiffs, and the KG trade left the cupboards bare. Luckily, Minnesota wisely traded the rights to O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love in 2008. Love was a walking double-double, averaging 11.1 points and nine rebounds a game. He finished sixth in ROY voting but was the clear future of the team. While Love was Mr. Consistency, Edwards has shown true star potential in his rookie year, so he keeps the belt for now.
Wiggins’ rookie year is probably the most similar to Ant’s. Like Edwards, Wiggins was the first pick in the draft. He was an athletic marvel and had all the traits to become a two-way monster. He averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in a rookie year that most people would probably describe as just fine. The difference between Ant and Wiggins is the monumental expectations heaped on Wiggins coming out of college. He was dubbed Maple Jordan and compared to Hall of Fame guys like Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, and Scottie Pippen during the draft process. Wiggins was expected to be the next chosen one from Day 1.
We all know it never worked out, but his rookie season is a slight disappointment considering the expectations, whereas Edwards had little to no expectations. His comparisons in the draft process ranged from Victor Oladipo down to Dion Waiters. He was thought of as a good but not great project who could become a solid player, but not one of the faces of the league. For that reason, Edwards advances to the final boss.
The Wolves’ brass was tossing and turning over whether they should take Towns or Jahlil Okafor with the first pick in 2015. Thankfully they took Towns, who rewarded them with a historic rookie season, averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and putting him in a class with greats like Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, and David Robinson. As good as Edwards has been, he is not in that league. Now the two young stars get to team up and see what they can do for a franchise that has never made the playoffs without Garnett or his cousin in intensity, Jimmy Butler.
Edwards is likely going to finish with the second-best rookie season in the NBA this year and the second-best rookie season in Timberwolves history. The future is bright for Ant, given the talented players he beat out. KG, Love, and Towns all turned their rookie success into excellent careers while Laettner, Wiggins, and Marbury all carved out their own space in the NBA for years. Time will tell what kind of player Ant blossoms into. Development isn’t linear, but the early returns on a kid who won’t turn 20 for three months and is about to experience his first real NBA offseason couldn’t be better for a fanbase desperate for a superstar to call their own.
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