The Minnesota Timberwolves have been eliminated in the Western Conference Finals in the last two seasons, and Dwyane Wade wants to see them take some big strides in 2025-26. On an episode of Time Out, Wade spoke about the improvements that Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves’ coaching staff need to make.
“Minnesota, they was at a deficit when the series started because of who they was playing against,” Wade said. “But you also went to the Western Conference finals last year. I need to see something better, the performance I see. Not saying y’all was going to beat this team, but you have experience in this.
“We just watched this last year with Luka [Doncic],” Wade stated. “We just watched y’all lose in five. I don’t want to see the same thing. So, hey, what y’all bringing back that’s new, that’s improved? I talked about this. The coach is going to have to go in the lab this summer.
“Ant’s going to have to go in the lab this summer,” Wade continued. “And it’s not just high pick-and-roll work. Ant gonna have to learn how to score all over the floor. He’s going to have to get to that post. He’s going to have to get off to that catch-and-shoot. He’s going to get into screening more. He’s going to have to get into opening up his package.
“And the coaching staff got to also get into opening up his package,” Wade added. “Because leaving that young man out there at half court to come off those pick-and-rolls, taking those long a** strides, you going to wear him down. I don’t care. I know he 23. He’s not gonna be as great as he can be. So, everybody need to go back to the lab and go back to the package.”
Wade, whom the Miami Heat selected with the fifth pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, stated that he himself had to change. That benefited not just the Heat but also him as a player.
Wade led the Heat to the NBA title in 2006 and would love to see Edwards pull that off as well. He wants to see the Timberwolves put the 24-year-old in more actions and utilize his great skill set, not just his athleticism.
Edwards had stated that no one was going to work harder than him in the offseason following the Timberwolves’ elimination at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wade would love to know what the three-time All-Star is working on, but only time will tell.
To Edwards’ credit, he showed a big improvement in one key area last season: three-point shooting. He made a league-high 320 threes in 2024-25 and was quite efficient too at 39.5%.
Three-point shooting had not been one of Edwards’ strengths in the past, and he clearly worked hard on it last offseason. Unfortunately, despite that big improvement, last season ended the same way as the one before it had. They lost in five games to the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals a year after losing in five to the Dallas Mavericks.
Edwards, who averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2024-25, is going to have to take another leap if the Timberwolves are to finally break through and get to the NBA Finals. History suggests he will improve in some way, but whether it will be enough is the question.
