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André Snellings, ESPN
Anthony Edwards has been very far from center this season, and shortly after one appearance he is making more three-pointers than any other player in the league.
Can he maintain that time and be the league’s three-point king this season?
According to ESPN BET, Edwards has the second-lowest odds to control the league in three-pointers made on a per-game basis at +750. He’s still a major underdog against favorite Stephen Curry (-120), but his odds are a dozen shorter on Friday than they were on Tuesday (+2000). So if you think Ant Guy can do it, now might be the past to enter.
However, can he?
I say sure. Because leading the league in 3-point shooting is largely an achievement of quantity, and no one in the NBA has shot more 3-pointers per game than Edwards this season.
Edwards is making 13.3 three-pointers per game, ahead of Jayson Tatum (12.2 3PA), Tyrese Maxey (12.0) and LaMelo Ball (12.0) for this season. James Harden holds the NBA record with 13.2 3PA in the 2018-19 season. Harden and Curry have led the league in 3PA each and every season since the 2012-13 campaign.
The question is: Will Edwards continue to shoot from a 3-point swing at such a surprisingly high price? Edwards’ career high is 8.4 3PA in the 2021-22 season, and last season he set a career low with just 6.7 3PA.
Why Edwards will take extra 3-pointers in 2024-25
A funny thing came up at the end of the season…the Celtics won the NBA Championship with a team that led the league in three-point attempts with the second-most three-pointers in NBA history. Edwards’ Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference Finals despite ranking 23rd in 3-point attempts and 17th in 3-point attempts, but their lack of long-range shooting stood out as part of the reason why. that his offense could not. Don’t hire with the elite.
Edwards turns out to have taken that lesson home. He began to demonstrate his intact 3-point shooting rate at the Olympics, where a full share (25) of Edwards’ field goals (50) came from behind the arc. Although the overall 3-point layout is shorter than the NBA layout by almost two feet, it was still notable that Edwards was flattening those looks at a 48% clip.
Edwards increased that 3-point time even further during the NBA preseason, where 37 of his 56 outfield shot attempts came from behind the arc. He made 16 3-pointers in one game when he wasn’t even hitting them well, making just three (18.8%) of his attempts while still shooting.
Coming into the season, the Timberwolves rank seventh in the NBA in 3-point attempts per game and fifth in 3-pointers per game, with last season’s excess practically solely due to Edwards’ preparation. . And Edwards is flattening his look, capturing what would be a career-best 41.5% from deep.
What to expect from Edwards
Last week’s 3-point percentage could dip a bit in the past, likely regressing to a percentage closer to the 36.3% he shot from behind the arc over the past two seasons, it also wouldn’t be surprising if his shot is just higher this season. Edwards is known for running his game and making notable improvements during the offseason, and he’s still only 23 years old.
And, without reference to ratio, Edwards’ increased shooting from the center is apparently more likely to continue. The sport has changed and it is an imitation league. The Celtics’ luck, just as the Warriors ruined their long-range dominance to win four titles, has led the league’s elite to take more and more shots from deep. The NBA as a whole is shooting and knocking down more 3-pointers this season than ever before, and it looks like Edwards and the Timberwolves are getting furious.
Edwards ranks high in the league right now with 5.5 3PG. Jordan Poole (5.0 3PG) and Goodfriend Hield (4.8 3PG) are second and third, but Hield are both putting up unsustainably high percentages of 57.1 3P% and 50.0 3P% respectively, while averaging less than 10 attempts per game. Curry is dealing with an ankle issue that has kept him off the court, but he has only made more than five 3-pointers per game three times in his career, and hasn’t done so since the 2020-21 season.
So, will Edwards lead the league in three-pointers made during the game this season? The week we won’t know that solution until April, he certainly turns out to be much more likely to come to this than 7 to 1. Which makes his +750 odds on ESPN BET solid.
