Timberwolves veteran Ricky Rubio praised rookie teammate Anthony Edwards and his toughness during the highs and lows of the season so far, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes.
Edwards, who was drafted by the team No. 1 overall last year, has shown flashes of potential during his first campaign. The 19-year-old is currently holding per-game averages of 15.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 38 contests, though he’s shooting just 38% from the floor.
“When you’re young, every game and every situation it seems like it’s the end of the world sometimes when it’s not working,” Rubio said. “But his character is special. I said it from day one, I think we have a gem here. We have something that — he’s going to be really good in this league.”
Here are some other notes from the Western Conference tonight:
- Blazers star CJ McCollum is hoping to return next week from a broken left foot, Jason Quick of The Athletic writes. “Friday’s workout went well; how I expected it to go,” McCollum said. “I’ll be back soon, as long as everything continues to go the way it’s been going.” McCollum, who has averaged 26.7 points per game in 13 contests this season, has been sidelined since January 16.
- Timberwolves guard Jaylen Nowell received an expanded role in the team’s game against the Blazers on Saturday, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Nowell scored 17 points and grabbed four rebounds in the loss, playing the final minutes despite starting the contest on the bench. “I’m just focused on being aggressive whenever I catch it, making sure I can make a play,” said Nowell, who recently spoke to our Ben Stinar about his impressive season to date. “The one difference that I might say would be when I’m initiating offense, making sure I get guys in spots, making sure I keep the ball moving, making sure the ball doesn’t get stagnant. That’s probably the only difference when I’m in with that second unit rather than the first.”
- Warriors star Klay Thompson hopes to return early next season from a torn Achilles’ tendon, as relayed by The Athletic. “Definitely. Could be a few weeks after [opening night]. Could be a month after,” Thompson acknowledged. “But definitely geared toward early in the season.” Thompson is a five-time All-Star and hasn’t played since June of 2019 due his Achilles’ injury and a torn ACL.
It hurts so much to not watch Klay out there. Gonna be great to see him back out there with Steph!
Imo
Cade and Jalen Green are far better than Edwards and Wild Ball
Of course they are, far better than Wiseman too. And if the Rockets continue losing the rest of the season they’ll have a legitimate chance of getting one of them. If you add Cade or Green to a roster alongside Wood, Wall, Porter, Tate, and Gordon we will see a huge turnaround next season in Houston.
I mean seriously it ain’t that special to be better than Edwards or Wiseman… but I can’t see anyway that either Green or Cade can ever be as good as LaMelo!!!
Having said that Green will be a real star in the league, Cade has yet to prove he has got anythin’… Kuminga & Green will be the 1-2 in the draft!
Lamelo isnt even close to Cade or Green or about 5-10 other guys in next years draft, you have no clue…
There’s no one among Wall, Porter or Tate close to the level of Harden or Paul. Wood was playing quite well, but (at least for the moment) he is no superstar either. Even if they get Cade or Green, and the one they choose turns out to be the real deal, I wouldn’t expect the Rockets to be much better than Luka’s Mavericks. That is, at best they should be fighting to avoid the play-in.
There’s about 10 guys in this years draft that would have gone #1 in last years draft.
10 might be stretching it considering how good Ball has been, but this is a deep upcoming draft.