Anthony Edwards is Timberwolves’ point guard. He’s learning more about that every day

Mike Conley is years old and can t impact the encounter to the same level he used to Rob Dillingham is years old and whether or not he will eventually be a starting-caliber member in the NBA is still to be determined Donte DiVincenzo is a shooting guard whose best basketball comes while playing off ball Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has more than insinuated Anthony Edwards new role on the squad on multiple occasions Edwards is Minnesota s point guard It s the role Edwards wants He sees himself as an offensive hub-type participant who can command the offense It s the role Minnesota s roster now demands of its star performer But with great power comes great responsibility Edwards played an excellent meeting in countless regards Wednesday in Oklahoma City He hit a large number of big shots He defended hard He was one of Minnesota s only players who could break down the Thunder s historically dominant defense But as the point guard he also has to shoulder a share of the blame for Minnesota s poor late-game execution The Timberwolves turned the ball over four times in the final five minutes The first of those came when Edwards was stripped on a drive to the bucket The other three came from DiVincenzo Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle But Edwards was involved in every play How so Each of those teammates was attempting to get him the ball on those plays Edwards is now supposed to be Minnesota s safe place amid a Thundering storm Yet he wasn t readily available at key points in the final three minutes Minnesota called a timeout and drew up a play for Edwards in a tie event with minutes to play Wednesday But Edwards was denied the in-bounds pass which forced DiVincenzo to bring the ball up the floor Which happens frequently in the NBA But the issue was it then took Edwards seven seconds to cross the timeline And by the time he got there a waiting DiVincenzo had been stripped by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander The next trip down the floor McDaniels had the ball on the wing in semi-transition Randle was posting up but Finch pointed for the ball to go back to Edwards But Edwards was lackadaisical in his effort to get open and created no passing lane as he was blanketed by Casson Wallace So McDaniels who had picked up his dribble had to turn back and attempt to float a pass to Randle that was knocked away for another turnover The final turnover was a five-second call in which Randle was unable to inbound the ball in time Again Edwards the primary option was unable to break free on a play where he didn t seem to make multiple efforts to do so leaving Randle nowhere to go with the ball That s not to say Edwards is singularly to blame for the turnovers The other guys have the ball in their hands and they have to better improvise when Plan A is negated But as the best sportsman on the association who s now empowered to direct traffic and claim control of the contest everything ultimately falls at the feet of Edwards We ve got to go back and get the ball Finch advised reporters We allowed them to take us out of what we longed to do too easily in that situation That s really it It s a lot to take on But it s the gig for NBA superstars The same responsibility is placed on the shoulders of Gilgeous-Alexander Luka Doncic Nikola Jokic Giannis Antetokounmpo Cade Cunningham Steph Curry on and on and on When the encounter is on the line the action at least starts in your hands and you cannot allow the defense to dictate otherwise The best news out of Wednesday for Minnesota was that the guard himself suggested as such He accepted full blame for the turnovers even when they weren t entirely his Putting the ball in Edwards hands may give the -year-old more ownership over group performance than ever before I was supposed to get the rock kinda lazy trying to get the ball couldn t get the ball Edwards informed reporters That s on me I can t allow us to turn the ball over The current roster does Edwards sparse favors in this department While Minnesota has plenty of talent it lacks plenty of sure hands or guys who can break a defense down off the bounce That s his reality Point guard duties for him could be even more formidable than they are for the bulk Given the apron-era of the NBA it s entirely manageable the best rosters surrounding Edwards have already come and gone There will be deficiencies around him every season It s on the superstar to cover them up Challenge accepted With no designated point guard I think I ve got to be the one to bring the ball up it s just that simple so we don t turn it over he recounted reporters Get us into an action get my teammates shots and we ll be alright I m feeling good I ve just got to get used to being a point guard getting to get the rock Just to take the pressure off my teammates Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball match against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento Calif Monday Nov AP Photo Randall Benton Related Articles Frederick 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