Anthony Edwards has already checked plenty of boxes in Minnesota. What the Timberwolves want now is something harder to quantify: a louder, steadier version of their franchise player.
Coach Chris Finch and Bones Hyland both made that clear as they pushed Edwards to take on more of a leadership role in his seventh NBA season. Finch said the next step for Edwards has to be more than just speaking up.
"Now, it’s up to him to take the next step in leadership, and that is his voice has grown intelligently and appropriately over the last few seasons. Now, it’s got to be the combination of the voice plus the everyday presence of leading by example, leading when you’re not playing well yourself, just small things," Coach Finch said.
That challenge goes beyond the usual praise for Edwards’ energy and support. He already lifts teammates up and brings juice when he’s on the floor, even when the Timberwolves are behind. But Finch wants more accountability from his star, the kind that helps keep everyone aligned when the game starts to wobble.
It’s the same kind of responsibility that has long defined the league’s biggest names - players like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who have all been known to correct teammates in the moment and steady the room when things get shaky.
Hyland echoed that view and put the expectation directly on Edwards.
"If our franchise player isn’t our leader, it wouldn’t work as far as us trending towards a championship. I think it puts Ant on a pedestal, just taking on that leadership role.
That’s something that I think he should embrace. A lot of us in the locker room, we’re looking for Ant to lead us, so that’s something that I think will be big for us this season," Hyland declared.
Edwards is now being asked to grow into the kind of presence Minnesota believes can push the team from contender to champion. The Timberwolves have already made two Western Conference Finals, but Finch sees leadership from Edwards as a missing piece if they’re going to climb higher.
The push comes as the Timberwolves continue trying to match the kind of standard set by teams led by Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic said. And while Minnesota has been described as a scary team with major changes from Finch, those moves only matter if Edwards accepts the role the locker room is asking him to fill.
Whether that happens as the 2026-27 NBA season unfolds is now one of the biggest questions around the Timberwolves.
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Lyles has made clear he is willing to lean into the less glamorous parts of the assignment, from being a locker room voice to giving the Wolves depth up front. That kind of profile can matter in October, even if the path to a steady role is crowded, and it makes his fight one worth watching as Minnesota sorts out the back end of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Bones Hyland Faces Early Pressure In Timberwolves Rotation
The Timberwolves have already mapped out their starting group, which means the real intrigue now sits in the first layer behind it. Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Joan Beringer are expected to come off the bench, and Bones Hyland appears likely to be part of that second unit after being re-signed for another season. For Minnesota, the question is less about whether he gets a chance and more about how long the team is willing to wait if the fit does not look right early.
Hylands case is an uneasy one because the Wolves know both sides of the scouting report. He has shown he can matter in big playoff moments, but his defensive limitations have also followed him around and make every rotation decision feel a little more fragile. If his offense does not hold up right away, his minutes could get squeezed quickly, and the bench hierarchy in Minnesota may shift before long. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Edwards And LaMelo Ball Could Decide How Far Wolves Go
The Timberwolves spent the offseason reshaping the roster in a way that makes the coming year feel more than routine, and the addition of LaMelo Ball has pushed expectations up a notch in the Western Conference. Anthony Edwards has already been talking about how well the fit can work, stressing that the focus is on winning and that the team now has a blend of offensive punch and defensive strength that could make it a tougher matchup night after night.
Edwards and Ball will still have to prove the partnership on the floor, of course, but the early signs around Minnesota are encouraging. With the core group intact and the lineup looking more balanced than it has in recent memory, the Wolves are heading into the season with a sense that their ceiling may depend on how quickly their two most important stars settle into the same rhythm. [Read more 🡒]