Tim Connelly on Anthony Edwards: 'He's primed to have a monster year'

Adidas has officially unveiled Edwards’ first signature hoops shoe today, with the AE 1 model pictured here. In a press event, Edwards wore a black/orange colorway of the shoe, while a black/pink iteration was on display. As of now, the Adidas AE 1 is scheduled to make its retail debut in December and will retail for $120. -via complex.com / September 23, 2023

Clutch Points: “It ain’t about stepping back. It’s about [Anthony Edwards & Karl-Anthony Towns] scoring forward together. They’re both the faces of the [Timberwolves]… This is what me and [Stephon Marbury] couldn’t get together.” —Kevin Garnett (via @shobasketball) -via Twitter / September 19, 2023

Edwards was, quite inappropriately, asked by a European reporter which of his teammates would he rather trade: Towns or Rudy Gobert. At first, Edwards merely looked off the ridiculous query. Then, when he was done being questioned about something entirely reasonable, Edwards actually paused, turning back to the disrespectful media member and strongly declared: “Neither one, man. I like all my teammates. I love them. They my brothers. I wouldn’t trade neither one of them.” -via Yahoo! Sports / September 15, 2023

On Karl-Anthony Towns, after missing 52 games with a calf injury and all of training camp last season with an illness, and his standing in the league. Tim Connelly: Karl’s a great player. Karl and I have had conversations about this. And right now our team will be judged, we think, on how much we win. The great teams, and we’re trying to aspire to be a great team and we have a long way to go, the great organizations, it’s not about how individuals are viewed. It’s about how the team is viewed. I think Karl has accomplished so much individually. He’s checked every individual box. Our team, whether it’s Karl right down to our third two-way (contract), I think we want to be judged collectively as a team that can win and win in the postseason. I think once we do that, and Karl can be a huge part of that, then I think the way this league views you changes dramatically when you’ve had success in the postseason. -via The Athletic / September 23, 2023

In Year 2 of Towns and Rudy Gobert paired in the frontcourt. Tim Connelly: We don’t have too much video, but we have enough video to understand where we were wrong and where we were right and kind of drill down on those things that were working and say maybe we were wrong with this is how things potentially could work. So I just think collectively, knowing all the actors is going to make things a whole lot easier. -via The Athletic / September 23, 2023

On contract negotiations with Jaden McDaniels. Tim Connelly: We’d love to get something done. We want Jaden to be here as long as possible. Oftentimes those back-and-forths pick up more as the season gets closer, but fingers crossed. In my experience in Denver and here, we like to reward people who earned it. Jaden is a huge part of what we’re doing now. He’s going to get better and better and better. Great kid. And we think his best basketball is in front of him. -via The Athletic / September 23, 2023