Souhan: If Anthony Edwards is a franchise player, he needs to act and play like it

In the ensemble-cast serial-drama the Timberwolves are staging, there are dozens of story arcs and supporting actors, but there is only one star.

Anthony Edwards has built one of the most impressive résumés of any 23-year-old in NBA history.

He also has gaps in his game and maturity that he needs to fill if he’s going to become a top-three player and lead the Timberwolves to a title.

He’s been compared to a young Michael Jordan. To be more like that Mike, he’ll need to start acting and playing more like little Mike.

Mike Conley.

On Thursday morning, seven of the Wolves’ eight rotation players and coach Chris Finch ignored their lack of sleep and met with the media at the team facility in Minneapolis.

Conley went first, because he’s that kind of leader. He wouldn’t ask anyone else to do what needs to be done.

Edwards was the only rotation player who didn’t speak, because, for all of the maturity he displays in terms of work ethic and coachability, he remains immature when it comes to being a true franchise player.

He is the Wolves’ franchise player. He has also proven to be remarkably inconsistent in the playoffs, capable of producing 40 points one night, and missing 90% of his three-point shots the next.

Most concerning about his performance in the Western Conference finals was his unwillingness or inability to play defense as hard and as well as every player who took the court for Oklahoma City.

I asked Finch where Edwards is in his developmental arc, and how he needs to improve. Finch provided a remarkably comprehensive answer:

“I think he’s in a really good place in his developmental arc. I think he’s 23 years old. He’s got two Western Conference finals under his belt. He’s been able to navigate a lot of looks and defenses. He’s got a pretty good amount of winning — a lot of winning, actually, underneath his belt.

“This was a big year for him, and, you know, it’s kind of ‘his team.’ I thought he did a good job with his leadership. He’s pretty much a show-up-and-play-every-night kind of guy. He’s about the right things — his habits supporting his game, he keeps getting better and better with his work, his preparation, his diet.

“So there’s a lot to be encouraged about there. I think for areas of improvement, is just for him to keep going along the same route, really. I think he’s got to also figure out a bit of a closing [late-game-scoring] package, and we have to help him there — what shots, what places on the floor can he repeatedly get to. Foul-drawing. You see right now in the league what gets rewarded. 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.

“I think it’s a little more about the gray matter than it is any kind of skill. But adding some kind of skill is always important.”

Edwards is capable of doing everything well. Now he needs to learn how to be able to summon his best in the biggest situations, how to understand what defenses are trying to get him to do, and, yes, how to get foul calls.

His role model for that should be Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who isn’t as athletic as Edwards but is an artisanal foul-drawer. Edwards needs to learn that getting fouled doesn’t get you a foul call — making the officials believe you’ve been fouled does. So he should work on that craft.

In terms of overall attitude and 24-hour professionalism, he has the perfect role model in Conley, the Wolves’ veteran point guard.

You may think that harping on Edwards blowing off interviews is petty. Maybe that’s true. But when a star doesn’t do interviews, he is telling all of his teammates who do interviews in his stead that they are less important than he is, that they should pick up his slack.

That’s not the way a franchise leader should behave.

For all of his accomplishments, Edwards has room for improvement, and his franchise needs him to fill that room with the right furniture.