Anthony Edwards has never been shy, and he made that clear again with a blunt prediction that should give the Spurs plenty of bulletin-board material heading into Halloween.
“Against those two teams, I think we're going to beat them.”
That was Edwards talking about San Antonio and Oklahoma City in an interview via @espn on August 16, 2026. The confidence is pure Edwards - the kind of line that lands because he usually has the game to match the swagger. But this one comes with a little extra bite, because the Spurs are the team standing in his way next, and they’ll get their first crack at him on October 31.
The timing matters because Edwards’ comments came alongside a more measured admission about where Minnesota stands. He didn’t exactly sell the Timberwolves as a finished product.
“I don't think we're thinking about winning the championship," the Minnesota star said. "It's step by step. We got LaMelo, a new player, and a bunch of new pieces.”
That’s a different tone entirely. It’s the sound of a team still trying to sort itself out, even with Edwards carrying the kind of personality that usually powers bigger declarations.
And from Minnesota’s side, the matchup picture doesn’t get any easier. The source material points to the Timberwolves hurting themselves in a rematch with San Antonio, especially by moving away from Julius Randle. The argument is that Randle’s style gives the Spurs an easier target, since he’s not built to consistently overwhelm them with bully-ball possessions.
The alternative, according to the source, would have been to move Naz Reid into the starting four spot and open the floor up. Reid was described as one of Minnesota’s best weapons against San Antonio in that series, and the reasoning is simple: versatile bigs create more problems for the Spurs than one-dimensional looks do.
Minnesota, though, chose ball-handling over size. That may sound reasonable in a vacuum, but the Spurs are built to punish that tradeoff.
They have big guards who can score and defend, plus their 7'4" superstar, who can do the same. That’s a lot to sort through for any opponent, and the Timberwolves, as presented in the source, don’t have the makeup to handle all of it.
That’s why Edwards’ confidence reads one way on the microphone and another way on the calendar. He can talk, and he can usually back it up. But even he acknowledged the growing pains in Minnesota, and that leaves the Timberwolves in a prove-it phase while San Antonio keeps coming.
Ball is part of that equation now, too, and the source makes clear he’s still in the “we have to see it to believe it” category. Until the Timberwolves show they can put it together, the noise won’t matter much.
Edwards may keep talking. The Spurs will get their turn to answer on October 31.
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