Anthony Edwards may be talking like the Western Conference belongs to Minnesota, but the bigger picture says otherwise. After greeting his new teammate, Edwards made his stance clear: "Ya'll see what going on.
This sht over, man. Wrap this sht up.
This sh*t over this year, man,"
That kind of confidence makes for a great soundbite. It also clashes hard with the reality around him.
The Spurs, as the source piece frames it, are not some ordinary roster. They’re a team packed with nearly superpowered young talent, and last season’s jump from 34 wins to 62 and a trip to the NBA Finals showed exactly how dangerous that group can become.
San Antonio’s edge starts with what’s already in place. The front office handled the hard part, building a roster loaded with talent and surrounded by the kind of humble, hard-working players who are willing to chase the same goal together.
Youth is the built-in engine here, and that matters because it means growth is coming naturally. The chemistry should keep getting cleaner, the individual skills should keep climbing, and the team added Tobias Harris plus frontcourt depth to patch one of the few holes in the mix.
That matters even more when you look at the rest of the West. The source article says Oklahoma City, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minnesota all took steps backward after losing personnel that mattered to their success.
The Thunder lost several productive wings. The Nuggets are without an important two-way specialist they depended on.
LeBron James left the Lakers in a tough spot. And Minnesota?
Minnesota is now leaning on LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga to ease the load on Edwards.
That’s the part that really stretches belief. The idea is simple enough: Edwards gets doubled too often, so adding other ball-handlers should make defenses pay for loading up on him.
But that only works if those secondary creators actually scare anyone. According to the source, neither Kuminga nor Ball does that right now.
Their backgrounds only sharpen the skepticism. Ball was supposed to be Charlotte’s franchise star, but he was traded before his 25th birthday for Naz Reid, a role player.
Kuminga, meanwhile, was pushing for a bigger role and more touches in Golden State, with the belief that he could be the one to follow Stephen Curry. Instead, the Warriors moved on.
Minnesota’s plan also leans on pace. The Wolves want to play faster and use athleticism to race up and down the floor.
But that style doesn’t exactly rattle San Antonio. Mitch Johnson wants his team playing fast too, so the Spurs are more than comfortable meeting that tempo.
Unless Ball and Kuminga suddenly become much better shooters overnight, the source argues Minnesota is headed for another finish on the outside looking in. And with San Antonio’s depth, youth, and answers all over the floor, Edwards’ swagger comes off as a little ahead of schedule.
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Jones-Garcias path, though, is still a work in progress, which is why his summer matters. The Spurs may have some playing time available for him next season, and a reserve scoring job would be a real opening for a player trying to carve out a place in the rotation. How he looks in the qualifiers will help shape that discussion, especially if he can steady the parts of his game that have been less reliable lately. [Read more 🡒]