Anthony Edwards has made a name for himself as one of the more promising young stars in the NBA, and he is also a hell of a trash talker. Edwards is highly confident in his own abilities, like when he called himself the best defender in the NBA, and while that is definitely a stretch, he perhaps now gets to play with the best defender in the league.
That, of course, would be Rudy Gobert, who was traded to the Timberwolves from the Jazz in a deal involving multiple players and 4 first-round picks. Gobert is the best rim protector in the league, and he gives the Timberwolves some much-needed defense on the interior. If Edwards' comments from December last year are anything to go by, he doesn't quite share that sentiment regarding the Frenchman, however.
"To me, the best rim protector in the league is Porzingis. Anytime I go against Porzingis, I don’t get no layups. I don’t get why we couldn’t finish on Rudy Gobert. He put no fear in my heart."
Just another instance of Edwards throwing shade at an opponent, as there is no one who considers Kristaps Porzingis to be a better rim protector than Gobert. Ant is going to be asked about these comments at some point in the near future, and it's going to be interesting to see what he has to say.
Regardless of how he actually feels about Gobert becoming his teammate, this move has plenty of positives for Minnesota. As mentioned earlier, they get some great rim protection that they lacked earlier, and Gobert is also one of the premier rebounders in the league. The main question here is if the approach of pairing Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns works out. The Celtics and Warriors, the two teams in the NBA Finals this past season, didn't have a single starter over 6'9”, while the Timberwolves here are going with the Twin Towers. It is a bold strategy to go against the grain, and we'll see if it works out for them.
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