Anthony Edwards and his U.S. Olympic men’s basketball teammates stayed undefeated at the Paris games this afternoon. Edwards, who had a second best on the team 17 points, helped the Americans run their record to 4-0 with their 122-87 win over Brazil. The U.S. advances to the semifinals in Thursday’s game against Serbia as the Americans pursue Olympic gold.
Edwards—who scored most of his points today in the second half in a one-sided game from early on—was coming off a 26-point game last week when he led the U.S. in scoring in a 104-83 victory against Puerto Rico. Edwards, who made six of 10 field goals today including three of seven three-pointers. trailed only Devin Booker’s 18 points on the U.S. team.
The Timberwolves’ 23-year-old shooting guard is thought to be on the verge of superstardom, if not there already. Edwards was named All-NBA for the first time in his career earlier this year. He made the all-league second team after averaging a career-high 25.9 points per game on a career-best 46.1 percent shooting. He averaged 5.4 rebounds and a career-high 5.1 assists, becoming the first player in franchise history to average 25+ points/5+ rebounds/5+ assists in a season.
Edwards has expressed confidence that he can contribute in big moments, including at the Olympics where so far he is the American team’s leading scorer. “His confidence is something that fuels him, to be quite honest with you,” Wolves coach Chris Finch told Sports Headliners earlier this summer.
The Olympics are a superb “summer lab” for Edwards to polish his skills and improve his maturity as he prepares for his fifth NBA season this fall. Although Edwards is coming off the bench for the U.S. team, coach Steve Kerr is liberally dividing up playing time so that his uber-talented and deep roster provides most players with double digit time on the floor. Today Edwards played a team leading 20 minutes, 53 seconds.
The competitiveness in practices and games at the Olympics is certainly an opportunity for Edwards to take the “next step.” In the playoffs last spring he had superb games but also moments where both his decision-making and stamina lagged.
Being around consummate veterans like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant will show Edwards how they handle big moments on a big stage. It is also a setting for Edwards to see how they handle themselves off the court—an environment that sometimes has been challenging for him since the Wolves drafted him No. 1 overall in 2020.
Two years ago this September, Edwards was fined $40,000 by the NBA for anti-gay remarks he made in an Instagram post. After an April 2023 incident in Denver when Edwards recklessly swung a chair that hit two bystanders as he exited the court, he was fined $50,000 by the league.
There have been other issues that have impacted his reputation, too. Whether he can put further problems behind him will be interesting as he leads the Wolves, a team whose leadership he took over last season from Karl-Anthony Towns.
Edwards seemingly benefited from international play last offseason when he played for the U.S. Men’s FIBA World’s team. He led the U.S. in scoring at 18.9 points per game and minutes (25.9) as the Americans placed fourth in the tournament. He also averaged 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals.
Chris Finch: ‘Garza Very Potent Offensive Player’
Luka Garza has played minimal minutes in his three seasons in the NBA, including two with the Timberwolves where he’s a fan favorite because of his offensive efficiency, work ethic and ties to the Big Ten via the University of Iowa. Garza, a 6-foot-10 center-forward who averaged a career-low 4.9 minutes per game last season and 8.9 minutes over three seasons, has been an emergency back up during his short pro career. But he has shown enough promise to earn his best contract after signing a two-year deal with Minnesota last month that Spotrac.com reports guarantees him $2,162,606 for 2024-2025.
Garza’s deep on the bench status won’t change next season unless injuries impact the front court roster. Finch will remind a listener that things can happen over the course of a long season.
“I don’t see him like right off the bat being in our rotation, but, again, you never know how these things work out,” Finch said. “Couple years ago, I didn’t see Naz Reid in our rotation either.”
Reid, a power forward, was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season. An undrafted free agent in 2019 out of LSU, Reid began his career with a two-way contract and developed into an impact scorer off the bench for Minnesota.
Garza knows about two-way deals (meaning a player can be sent to the developmental NBA G League and earn minimal money) but when given the opportunity with the G League Iowa Wolves or Minnesota, he has produced points. In a late season rout of the Raptors last spring, he scored 16 points for the Wolves, making seven of 10 shots in 9:28 of playing time. That was the most points in under 10 minutes by a Wolves player since James Robinson had 23 points in 9:35 minutes on the court.
“He is a very potent offensive player,” Finch said. “He can score from all ranges, (including) his three-point shot. He’s got an old school back to the basket game. One thing we love about him is he can really punish switches.”
When a smaller player has to switch on to the 245-pound Garza, the likelihood is more points for the Wolves. He has a deft shooting touch near and away from the basket.
But there’s more to Garza’s success offensively. There is his determination to play with effort including trying to beat the defense down the floor for a layup or dunk.
Garza’s work ethic, drive, good soldier reputation and perhaps even bench cheer leading is part of the reason he’s stuck in the NBA, initially arriving as a second-round pick by the Pistons and now with guaranteed money in Minneapolis. He played in 25 games, averaging four points on 48 percent shooting, along with 1.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists last season.
“He certainly could be a double-digit scorer in the league if given the minutes and opportunity to do so,” Finch said. “The key for Luka being a rotation player is always going to be his ability to guard in pick and roll (situations) and defensive rebound.”
Garza has worked on improving his footwork and other skills that can make him a better player, including defensively. That improvement is clear to those who watch him closely, but it will always be true that his impact is most evident offensively.
“…When Luka comes on the floor we make a conscious effort to get him the ball,” Finch said. “It doesn’t matter who he is playing with or against.”
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