Anthony Edwards has the answer for making the Wolves '10 times better'

Two days before the Timberwolves open the 2025-26 season with an aim to run through the wall that has stood between them and the NBA Finals the last two seasons, Anthony Edwards has improved his ball-handling and added a midrange package to his already-explosive offensive arsenal.

"They kicked our ass," Edwards said Sunday, recalling how the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Wolves in five games in last season's Western Conference finals. "If we ain't motivated, then we shouldn't be coming back this year."

While Edwards is getting headlines after telling Jon Krawczynski that he's going to bring a championship to a starving Minnesota fan base, the reality is that he can't do it alone. Julius Randle has to be better. Naz Reid has to take a step. Mike Conley can't fall off. Donte DiVincenzo has to stay healthy. Rudy Gobert needs to regain his dominant form on defense. But most of all, Jaden McDaniels needs to be a force — on both ends of the floor — for all 82 games and beyond.

McDaniels, who was selected 28th overall in the 2020 draft that Edwards went No. 1 to Minnesota, blossomed in the second half of last season, all the way to the point that head coach Chris Finch described him as a legit two-way player.

"He's a legitimate two-way player now. But what we need from him is some more playmaking," Finch said days after the Thunder eliminated the Wolves. "Now he's getting the touches, now the shot attempts are up. He's one of the guys who can find Rudy, he can find Ant. That's a dimension I think would really help us."

Edwards says he's seen that growth from McDaniels in training camp and the preseason.

"Jaden has definitely got a lot better as far as just making decisions with the ball in hand," Edwards said Sunday. "We all know he can score the ball, it's about what you gonna do when you get it, when they put two people on you. Just trying to get him to understand, sometimes the shot is there and sometimes you can kick it out to the corner and make a play for somebody."

McDaniels didn't meet expectations the first three months of last season, but he picked up his scoring, rebounding and playmaking in January.

His all-around play lasted through most of the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs, when he averaged 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds against the Lakers, following by about 13 points and five rebounds per game in series against the Warriors and Thunder.

How confident is McDaniels ahead of his sixth NBA season?

"It looks like [his confidence is] high right now, so we're trying to keep it there," Edwards said of McDaniels. "We're going to keep giving him the ball. He can play with the ball in his hands, he's just gotta make the right play. He make the right play, we can be 10 times better. He's a great scorer. We just need him to be another facilitator for us."