Anthony Edwards studying former MVP's peak scoring blueprint

Edwards has already developed a step-back three like James Harden, but the Wolves want to see him evolve as a change-of-pace player in traffic to draw more fouls.

Nov 10, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts to a play against the Utah Jazz during the second half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Part of the Timberwolves' mission this season is to get Anthony Edwards to the free-throw line more often, and they've taken an interesting approach to accomplish the goal: studying James Harden in his prime.

That's according to Kings television play-by-play announcer Mark Jones, who said during Sunday's game against the Wolves in Sacramento that he spoke to Timberwolves director of player development Chris Hines about the strategy.

"[Hines] said that he sat down and watched video of 2018-2019 James Harden a couple of weeks ago, and (they) were studying Harden's pace, and change of pace, change of direction, and his ability to draw fouls. Minnesota, as a coaching staff, feel that if he can get to the line a few more times, maybe to the amount of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, then that raises the ceiling for not only him but the entire team," Jones said.

Harden led the NBA in free-throw makes and attempts in seven of eight seasons from 2012-13 to 2019-20. During that stretch, Harden was a top-10 MVP vote-getter in all eight seasons, finishing top-five six times, third once, runner-up twice, and MVP once (2017-18).

Why are the Wolves focused on Harden's 2018-19 season? We don't know for sure, but it probably has something to do with Harden averaging a career-best 36.1 points per game while attempting a career-high 13.2 threes per game. The fact that he still got to the free-throw line an average of 11.0 times per game is amazing.

Harden averaged 36.8 minutes per game that season. Edwards is averaging just 28.4 minutes per game so far this season, but he typically plays 35-36 minutes per game. Knowing that, we can compare Harden's season averages from 2018-19 to Edwards' per-36 numbers in a small sample size of seven games this season.

Name	PPG	REB	AST	FT	FTA	3PA
Harden	36.1	6.6	7.5	9.7	11.0	13.2
Edwards	34.4	5.2	4.2	6.0	7.1	10.5

Harden's season averages from 2018-19 are better than Edwards' per-36 averages so far this season, but a lot of that is to be expected because Harden is a true point guard while Edwards often plays off the ball.

Edwards could see his numbers rise in the scoring column if he can get to the free-throw line at a Harden or Gilgeous-Alexander rate. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 9.5 free-throw attempts through 11 games this season, whereas Edwards is getting to the line fewer than six times per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander, like Harden, is a master when it comes to changing pace and direction, and of course, baiting opponents into fouls while putting on a convincing display to get the officials to blow the whistle.

After last season ended in the Western Conference finals, Wolves head coach Chris Finch said he wants to see Edwards get better at drawing fouls.

"You see right now in the league, you see what gets rewarded, and you need to kind of lean into that a little bit, even though it's not necessarily how he likes to play. But it seems to be effective," Finch said.

We'll be watching closely to see if Edwards mimics any of Harden's style in the games ahead.