To this point of the season, LaMelo Ball for Rookie of the Year was one of the surest bets you could make. It’s still a pretty sure bet. He is clearly their favorite member. But the gap, perhaps, between Ball and everyone else is no longer an ocean, as at least Anthony Edwards’ overall No. 1 selection makes it interesting. On Thursday, Edwards continued his recent tears by beating the Phoenix Suns for a high of 42 points on a 15-of-31 shooting as Minnesota pulled the 123-119 through.
Edwards now owns it Minnesota Franchise Register for points in one game with a rookie (surpassing 37 by Zach LaVine in 2015), and all ESPN Stats and Information, is the third youngest player in history to score at least 40 points in a single game, slamming just LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
Not only has Ball put up tremendous numbers but it has in fact impacted the win over the current Charlotte Hornets team in the playoffs, Edwards has been one of the most ineffective scores. in the league on the worst team in the league. But over his last 10 games, Edwards gets an average of 28 points on a 44-percent shot, and from an All-Star break, a five-game race, he adds up 30 points per night on a 46-yard shot. hundred.
There is no denying Edwards’ raw physical tools. He is a freak athlete with a deadly first step. He is a fearless downhill attacker, and his combination of speed and power is quite elite. He’s already one of the scariest dunkers in the world, and the bulletproof selection that’s still questionable nonetheless, he can create a clean jumper for himself with the likes of highly progressive footwork and a natural feel for place creation.
Probably more than anything, Edwards competes like hell. Coming out, there was some fear that he might turn out to be a young Andrew Wiggins, another eye-catching athlete who never developed as an effective hunter or marker and didn’t never seem, as they say, to want the smoke. Edwards wants all the fog. He wants to carry all the cargo. For better or worse, it’s not going to escape into the back of a game, let alone voting permission.
Edwards has now scored at least 21 points in eight of his last nine games. Last Sunday, he put what was, at the time, a 34-game senior over the Blazers. Take a look at the first two finishes in this pack – one with his hand, the next with a few right footwork, before navigating easily behind a screen for one of his six 3-handed directions.
Edwards now leads all rookies in scoring at 16.8 points per night, which has been a consistent prediction for Rookie of the Year. But Ball, who pitched 27 on Thursday in a loss to the Lakers, is right on his heels at 16 every night, and Ball ‘s 45-38-80 shooting is a long way out of Edwards, who is at 39 percent from the field, 32 percent from 3 and 77 percent from the free throw line overall.
And again, Ball wins. Rookie of the Year is definitely the way it is. But if Edwards continues to play like this, and Ball falls off some, who knows what might happen. There is a lot of season to go.