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Anthony Edwards’ spike in three-point shooting this season is entirely by design, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Windhorst reported at the 11:07 mark in the newest episode of his Hoop Collective podcast the Minnesota Timberwolves “want Ant to shoot a ton of threes.” He added that Minnesota becoming a higher-volume team on the perimeter is not “happening by fluke.”
Edwards is averaging 4.9 made three-pointers on 11.1 attempts through 16 games. His previous high for attempts was 8.4, so he’s really getting the green light from deep.
The two-time All-Star hasn’t seen his efficiency suffer, either. He’s shooting 43.8 percent on threes, well above his career average (36.0 percent).
Windhorst explained the Wolves went into the offseason with the idea of changing their offensive focus a bit after finishing 23rd in three-point attempts (32.7 per game) in 2023-24.
Acquiring Donte DiVincenzo from the New York Knicks in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade was part of that strategy. Towns is rightfully regarded as one of the best shooting big men in NBA history, but DiVincenzo is both taking (7.1) and making (2.4) more threes than KAT did in his final year with Minnesota.
The Timberwolves obviously dealt Towns with an eye toward having Edwards become more of a pure shooter as well.
The overall results are encouraging. Beyond Edwards’ production, Minnesota is tied for fifth in made three-pointers per game (15.5) and has gone from 17th in offensive rating (114.6) up to ninth (114.2), per NBA.com.
Head coach Chris Finch is still waiting for that improvement to be reflected in the standings, though. The Wolves are 8-8 after dropping their last two games and sit 11th in the Western Conference. Still, only two games separate them from the Los Angeles Lakers in fourth, so they’re only one solid winning streak away from significantly altering their position in the playoff race.
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