Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley had little time to process their emotions before speaking to the media after the Oklahoma City Thunder stomped on them 124-94 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. The loss ended the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season on the same stage and in the same fashion as last year.
“It’s exciting,” Edwards said when a reporter asked him how much losing in back-to-back Conference Finals appearances hurts. “I don’t know why people would think it would hurt. It’s exciting for me, I am 23. I get to do it a whole bunch of times. I’m hurt more for Mike. I came up short for Mike. We tried last year, couldn’t get it. Tried again this year, and we’ll try again next year.
“But hurting is a terrible word to use. I’m good, yeah.”
Conley sat to Edwards’ right, wearing a Good Guys Finish First hat, and staring blankly into the audience of reporters. The loss hurt Conley, and it hurt the entire team that they fell short of getting their veteran his first championship ring. Edwards wasn’t hurt for his own sake – he is confident there will be many other chances at a championship in his career.
But just ask Conley, a good guy who has never finished first. He’s a 17-year vet who has made the playoffs 12 times and never once the Finals. Championship windows can be short, and Edwards and the Timberwolves must have a sense of urgency to jump through theirs.
To make the jump, they must focus on the details and how hard it is to be in this position.
“Yeah, I am going to work my butt off this summer,” Edwards said when a reporter asked him if Conley’s faliure to reach the Finals puts things into perspective. “Nobody is going to work harder than me this summer. I’ll tell you that much. I’ll try to make it happen again for Mike.”
Edwards logging more hours in the gym this summer than anyone else in the NBA wouldn’t be surprising. Players don’t clock into their practices and clock out when they are finished. The proof in their work shows itself in the following season.
During his exit interview last year, Edwards said he wanted to work on his “catch and shoot trey ball.” He followed that up by leading the NBA this season in three-pointers made (320) and attempted (811) on a career-high 39.5% from deep.
“This was a big year for him,” Chris Finch said during his exit interview. “It was kind of ‘his team,’ quote unquote. I thought he did a good job with his leadership. I thought he was pretty much a show up and play every night guy. He’s about the right things there. His habits, supporting his game, keep getting better and better. With his work, preparation, diet, all that stuff, is getting better. A lot to be encouraged by there.”
Edwards figured out how to play through double teams and a slew of blitzing defenses early in the year to turn this season into one where he averaged a career-high 27.6 points. It wasn’t a campaign that had him in a legitimate race for MVP – he finished eighth in voting. Still, for a 23-year-old, it was an encouraging season that set the foundation for him to consistently be in the MVP conversation for many years.
Ant is right; he is still young and has already been to the postseason in four of his first five NBA seasons. For as long as Edwards is in the league, the team he plays for will have championship aspirations. That’s the gravity he already brings. However, some aspects of a championship team are out of Ant’s control, no matter how many hours he spends working on drawing more fouls or adding to his end-of-game package.
There is a mindset, an emphasis on attention to detail, that the entire team needs.
“For individuals, it has to become even more important to them,” said Conley in his exit interview. “Maybe that means studying the game more. Maybe that means taking coaches to the side and getting some individual stuff there. Bringing me aside every now and then, even more often, and just using the minds around you to help you grasp certain concepts.”
That attention to detail manifests itself in many ways. Is the team limiting their careless turnovers? Are they rotating on defense? Is the team focused on their game plan even when shots aren’t falling or momentum is shifting to the other team?
For the Wolves to turn those question marks into statements that define their success, they must rise to a standard they didn’t meet against the Thunder.
“You’ve got to try to bring them up to a certain standard, or a certain level where the nonnegotiables are things you just do by habit,” Conley continued. “Not something that we have to ask or show on film a thousand times. It’ll be on us as a team to try to figure that out.”
OKC set that standard early in their 68-win season, which catapulted their relatively inexperienced roster to become favorites to win the NBA Finals. The Wolves still were their own worst enemy in the Conference Finals, averaging 17.4 turnovers and allowing big runs to sink their season.
“They did everything that they needed to do, accomplishing their game plans, and they just did everything more consistently than we were,” said Conley regarding OKC. “We had spurts, we had moments. But they seemed to never waver, staying at the same level of play regardless of shots making or not making, or whatever the situation was for that particular game.”
The gap between the Thunder and Wolves is significant. If Minnesota hopes to advance to the Finals in the next few years, it must get through OKC.
Maybe they won’t win it all in the next few years, but Edwards is confident he will get many chances at winning a championship in his career. The potential beaming off of him makes that hope seem probable, especially if he leads a team-wide charge focusing on attention to detail on the court. Still, inevitable roster decisions wait at every season’s end. Decisions that can change a team’s trajectory and shorten their postseason ceiling.
“You look at it from the side of teammates, guys who are under contract, and who are not,” said Conley. “This team may never be the same complete team that we had yesterday. That’s frustrating. You are losing guys that you went to battle with. It’s just a lot to wrap your mind around. It just takes time to realize how quickly things can change, and how you have to seize every opportunity you can get.”
Julius Randle and Naz Reid have player options this summer. If they opt out, they will become free agents, seeking expensive, long-term deals. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is already an unrestricted free agent. While it isn’t likely the Wolves will have the cap space to bring back all three players, Tim Connelly probably believes re-signing two is probable.
The core around Edwards will likely be just as good next season, and the brass pulling the strings (coaches, front office, and ownership) are willing to do what it takes to win now. Ant is primed to have many chances at hoisting the Championship trophy in his career. Still, the opportunities to do so can sometimes be more elusive than expected. Conley knows that well.
The Wolves have been knocking on the door for the last two years, and they have a championship window propped open with winners from top to bottom in the organization. They must have the urgency to explode through it, regardless of how bright the future may be. To do so, Edwards and his squadmates must realize how difficult it is to be in this position and pay greater attention to detail.