Is Ant the New King? Edwards Makes Huge Leap in NBA Rankings – Who’s #1?

The Minnesota Timberwolves just completed arguably their most successful season in franchise history. Anthony Edwards continued to elevate his game, and despite being a relative youngster, put the organization on his back.

The 22-year-old Edwards was brilliant all season, leading the Wolves to a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, but it was his play during the first couple rounds of the playoffs that really elevated his NBA rep to another level.

Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves is a top-12 NBA talent.

Because The Athletic has been operating their NBA Player Tiers project for five seasons, fans have the ability to witness a player’s development over that length of time. After naming each of the top 125 players, they are divided into five tiers.

This brings us Anthony Edwards, who ranks as the 12th greatest player overall and, more significantly, falls into their Tier 2B of NBA players. Jalen Brunson, Devin Booker, Jimmy Butler, and Victor Wembanyama are all classified in Tier 2B with Ant.

This season, Edwards advanced to the upper ranks of the game, albeit not quite “The Leap,” and led the Timberwolves to their second-ever conference finals appearance and a top-four record. all the while receiving widespread praise for being the greatest player during the first two playoff rounds. In the Western Conference finals against Dallas, Edwards, like many others in their first long postseason run, found some of his current limitations as the Mavericks’ interior defense particularly manhandled the young Minnesota star. If his career proceeds in the same manner as others’, he will gain knowledge from the experience and keep climbing the league’s ladder.

 

Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves: How far can he climb?

In July 2021, Ant debuted in the “5A Tier” of The Athletic’s player tier project. The following summer, in July 2022, he advanced into Tier 3, where he stayed until August 2023, before this summer, when he eventually achieved Tier 2.

As Anthony Edwards and Team USA prepare to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, expect his star power to only increase in the coming months. Among the players who will be playing with him are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Jayson Tatum, who is vying for his signature sneaker. Put another way, the majority of the world’s top players.

It will mostly be up to their 22-year-old superstar, who will be a wise old 23 by then, if head coach Chris Finch and the Minnesota Timberwolves want to take that next step and make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history next season.

It’s not that insane to believe that by this time next year, following his stint with Team USA and another season as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ leader, he might surpass all 11 players who are ahead of him on The Athletic’s list when the 2025 edition is released.