ra asks: was anthony edwards' rookie season during a pandemic and a coaching change vastly underrated? is he not talked about enough?
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two important things to note before i get into my answer:
i think anthony edwards had a good rookie campaign
i honestly didn't watch too much of the minnesota timberwolves / edwards in 2020/21, so this judgment is made entirely off of the few games i did watch, his highlights, and stats
all in all, i think his season is pretty properly rated.
he did what i (and most people?) expected he'd do. he joined a bad team, was given the freedom to play his game, and produced very reasonably given his play style, draft position, talent level, and opportunities. in fact, i'd say he had one of the most "that seems about right" rookie seasons in recent memory:
expectation: he's the first overall pick, he'll get good run. reality: 32 minutes per game - check.
expectation: he's a very talented scorer, will probably take some time to learn how to pick his spots, but he'll produce points even if it's slightly inefficient. reality: 19 points per game, 42% from the field, 33% from 3 - check.
expectation: he's athletic enough to affect the game from a rebounding and defense standpoint, but still young and on a losing team so it'll be very inconsistent. reality: check.
expectation: he'll have incredibly exciting moments (dunk on yuta watanabe 😱), but he's not really going to be a franchise-changing player from a wins/losses standpoint anytime soon. the advanced stats are going to be ugly. reality: check.
etc.
even if some of these sound like backhand compliments, they're not meant to be negative. ant was 19 years old - at that age you just want to see flashes, and we saw the flashes.
i think his future is bright; there's no reason his developmental curve as a scorer can't be one like that of bradley beal, donovan mitchell, zach lavine, devin booker, etc. and he definitely has the potential to eventually add a playmaking and defensive element to his game that would take it to the next level.
your question does bring up a much more interesting topic though, which i do want to touch on: how different the difficulty levels are for different types of rookies to adjust to the nba.
players like anthony edwards - namely, talented scoring guards / wings with above average athleticism coming in on bad teams - have it relatively easy, for a few reasons:
scoring the ball is the "simplest" thing to do if you can do it (to clarify, i'm not saying scoring points is easy in the nba; i'm saying if you're already good at scoring, it comes naturally and your role is simple - just go out there and get buckets)
the expectations are relatively low because there's no real urgency for the team to win, so you'll be given a lot of opportunity and freedom to find your game, be a volume shooter, make mistakes, etc.
similarly, because you're a rookie on a losing team, no opponent is going to prepare for you and play you like it's a meaningful game
other than having to face professional defenders being more athletic and teams sporadically mixing in a few schemes here and there, there's not a materially bigger challenge to score in the nba than in college overall in the regular season. in fact, it may feel easier for guys like ant edwards because they suddenly have more space and are playing with far more talented teammates than they've ever had in their lives, and aren’t getting box-and-1-ed all the damn time
what i'm trying to get at is: as an athletic and skilled scoring guard, your role on the court doesn't change much from college to your first season in the nba. your main responsibility is to put up points, and a step back jumper is still a step back jumper, a euro step is still a euro step - all that stuff translates over regardless of level or league.
for similar reasons, skills like on-ball defense and rebounding also translate over fairly straightforwardly. if that's what you made your name off of in college, chances are you'll still be pretty good at it from day 1 in the nba.
now for some stuff that's more difficult:
scoring (if you're not athletically superior) - this is why smaller scoring guards who put up big numbers in college often come in struggling mightily (e.g. austin rivers, jimmer fredette, trey burke, trae young)
playmaking - you have to adjust to the different pace of game, a different style of play, get used to your new teammates, learn the entire playbook, etc.
off-ball defense, particularly if you're a young big man - no exaggeration, it's literally like a learning how to play an entirely different sport (this is by far the most difficult transition)
all of those things take time and reps. adding new skills, developing current skills, learning about your opponents and your teammates - there are no shortcuts to getting over them.
that's why it's important when judging young players to understand what their skillsets/roles are. ant edwards coming in averaging 19/5/3 right off the bat is great - but it's not mind blowing. james wiseman's first season was a disappointment to many; they'll point to his mediocre stats (11 & 6) and the fact that the golden state warriors started winning as soon as he went down with an injury and draymond green took over as the team's small-ball center. but once you take in the fact that wiseman's transition was orders of magnitude more difficult (both offensively and defensively) than most and that he did noticeably improve at many small things (defensive rotations were tighter, decisions with the basketball better, etc.) game to game, i don't think it's a stretch to say his rookie year was almost just as much of a success.
luka doncic came in polished as hell and was clearly a franchise player from day 1; trae young's first few months had him on pace to be one of the worst players in nba history. and sure, luka is still obviously the better player in my opinion in 2021, but trae has proven he’s certainly no bust.
only time will tell how rookies' careers turn out. probably not wise to jump to conclusions and overrate or underrate them after one season.
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