The NBA is an ever-evolving game. Players, coaches, and teams will be left behind if they cannot keep up with the league’s trends or push the boundaries.
Contrary to that, Anthony Edwards has been demonstrably tapping into a lost facet of the game in his offseason workouts and into the preseason — the mid-range.
Edwards has rapidly grown since he entered the league five seasons ago. He has developed into a lethal 3-point threat off the dribble. He has also elevated his playmaking skills on catch-and-shoot opportunities, showcasing a deeper understanding of defenses’ positioning. He has also found ways to use his gravity to set up others, and has become more nuanced as an inside-the-arc scorer.
Since entering the league, Edwards has consistently spent his offseasons improving his game.
As a fan of Kevin Durant’s game, Edwards has always wanted to improve his midrange game since he entered the league. It was Edwards’ main focus of his’ 2023-24 season, but he never developed into a reliable mid-range shooter.
Heavy mid-range volume can be counterproductive, but elite scorers can change their game by using it correctly. There were flashes of brilliance, but it was just going to take time for Edwards to get comfortable inside the arc.
In the 2023-24 season, Edwards shot a career-high 23.9% of his field-goal attempts between 10 feet and the 3-point line. He also shot a career-high 39% on those attempts. It was not an overly effective shot for Edwards, but it was drastically better than any other season of his career.
The driving force behind this individual success was Edwards’ 44.6% shooting on two-point (2P) field goals from between 10 and 16 feet from the rim.
Despite Edwards showcasing an improved ability to take and make mid-range shots in the 2023-24 season, he didn’t rank well in efficiency amongst the NBA’s high-volume mid-range shooters. Among the NBA’s top 15 mid-range shooters in attempts, Edwards ranked last in FG% at 35.1%. He was the only player within the top 15 to shoot below 40%.
During the 2023-24 season, Edwards didn’t rank highly amongst his positional peers in terms of efficiency on these 2P shots. He has sat around the 35th percentile in mid-range shooting efficiency in his career, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Luckily for Edwards, the idea of him developing his mid-range is more based on it being a complementary threat to the rest of his game. If Edwards has more ways to force the defense to react, then he will create more routes for success for himself and the Timberwolves offense in the half-court.
Edwards’ potential addition of a multifaceted mid-range repertoire would rapidly elevate his game, giving him multiple ways to score late in games. If Edwards can find another gear, he will be prepared to perform in the playoffs and help raise Minnesota’s ceiling.
In last year’s Western Conference Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder blitzed Edwards, taking away his drives, pull-up 3s, and sending multiple waves of defenders his way to throw off his rhythm.
Oklahoma City had a historically successful defense, which regularly limited the league’s best players. Still, if Edwards had a more consistent mid-range to rely on in the series, he would have fared much better.
The only way that Edwards can grow and develop his mid-range game is by getting in-game reps throughout the regular season. In addition to his prior flashes of success in the mid-range, it’s a feasible development considering that Edwards is still only 24 years old.
The most important detail in how Edwards develops his mid-range is his usage.
Edwards has two primary routes to mid-range success: dribble pull-up jumpers and traditional back-to-the-basket possessions.
The dribble pull-up jumpers have been Edwards’ favorite. He has primarily found success getting into these shots with rhythm out of ball screens, usually against a drop scheme. He has been more comfortable taking the shot with some space over the low screen defender.
He has also found some craft within these shot attempts by snaking his dribble around the screener, or even getting into step-backs. Still, Edwards’ efficiency has wavered. The dribble pull-up jumpers are naturally much longer 2P attempts.
Edwards has occasionally showcased the traditional back-to-the-basket mid-range game in the past, but it appears to be his primary focus this season. Being able to find comfort in a more standstill position, where every slight movement can hinder effectiveness, is a difficult craft to master. There’s much more nuance, proprioception, and footwork to playing out of the mid-post.
If mastered, it can lead to a variety of moves, such as step-backs, fadeaways, step-throughs, and creating space with body bumps within those shots.
The back-to-the-basket game can almost be seen as an expert level of the mid-range for Edwards. It is challenging to master, difficult to acquire, and hard to use against difficult defensive matchups. It will take a lot of time and repetition to learn. Although it will only be developed in conjunction with the pull-up jumper, his overall efficiency will improve.
All that is left to see from Edwards’ mid-range this season is how different it is from other seasons. Is there more to it than just offseason noise? And what type of volume can we anticipate from Edwards this season?
Edwards continuing to develop a crucial area of his scoring repertoire would be complementary to his individual game as well as Minnesota’s offense. Still, not all development is linear. If Edwards struggles, as the Timberwolves attempt to maintain their historic winning pace, how quickly could he adjust his mid-range usage?
The concept of Edwards taking another leap is tantalizing, but it hinges on whether he can develop an effective mid-range game.