Free agent guard Austin Rivers boldly claimed Friday that one of his teammates from last season will lead the NBA in scoring during the 2023-24 campaign.
"I'll tell you the best bet: Anthony Edwards will lead the league in scoring [next season]... For Minnesota to take that next step, he has to become that level of a scorer. I think he has to be like a top 5 player in the league."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 7, 2023
— @AustinRivers25pic.twitter.com/o6oxMDzazv
The Minnesota Timberwolves have never had a scoring champion in their 34-year history, but Anthony Edwards would seem like a prime candidate. While his age (21 years old) and continued improvement (career-high 24.6 points per game last season) show why "Ant" could have a shot at making Wolves history next year, it'll still be a steep hill to climb.
Edwards's scoring average put him only 16th-best last season and he was a whopping 8.5 points per contest behind the two-time defending scoring champion, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers. For what it's worth, Edwards played in all but three of Minnesota's 82 regular season games and finished with the sixth-most total points in the NBA (1,946).
As one of the more durable players in the Association through his young career, the former No. 1 overall pick's high number of games could actually hurt his chances at a scoring crown.
Edwards' well-rounded game could hinder his odds of making Rivers' bet become a reality as well, as he averaged a career-high 4.4 assists per game during the 2022-23 campaign.
The shooting guard finished third in the NBA in steals last season (125), but also had the second-most turnovers with 259. Edwards was also second in the league in field goal attempts (1,541) and fourth in field goals made (707), but 10th and 11th in three-point field goals made and attempted, respectively.
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