Fueling a heated Western Conference rivalry, Minnesota's superstar guard targets the team that ended his playoff run while integrating LaMelo Ball into a dangerous, revamped Timberwolves roster.
Anthony Edwards isn't ready to call the Minnesota Timberwolves a championship team, but he is ready to say they can beat the San Antonio Spurs.
Those two statements might sound difficult to reconcile, but Edwards appears to have a clear distinction between where Minnesota stands entering the 2026-27 season and what he believes the Timberwolves are capable of against the Western Conference's best.
And the Spurs don't have to look very far to understand why Minnesota might have them circled.
San Antonio eliminated Edwards and the Timberwolves from the playoffs last season ... ending Minnesota's run in the second round after back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals.
The Timberwolves responded by reshaping the roster around their superstar, acquiring LaMelo Ball to give Edwards another All-Star-caliber guard as Minnesota attempts to work its way back into the West's final four.
Edwards isn't pretending that process will happen overnight.
"It would mean a lot [to win a championship]," Edwards told ESPN. "But right now, I don't think we're thinking about winning the championship. It's step by step. We got LaMelo, a new player, and a bunch of new pieces. So, we are just trying to build it together, and I think we're trying to gel it all together."
That sounds like a player willing to acknowledge the uncertainty surrounding a reshaped roster.
His confidence changed when the conversation shifted toward San Antonio and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Against those two teams, I think we're going to beat them," Edwards said.
That's quite the declaration for a Timberwolves team Edwards had just stopped short of labeling a championship contender.
It's also another indication of the position the Spurs now occupy in the Western Conference.
San Antonio's emergence is no longer something opposing teams can dismiss as potential or a prediction about what Victor Wembanyama and the rest of its young core might eventually become. The Spurs already knocked Minnesota out of the postseason once.
Edwards averaged 28.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season, and adding Ball could make Minnesota an even more difficult matchup if the Timberwolves' new pieces fit together.
But Edwards isn't asking for time before deciding how Minnesota stacks up against the team that ended its season.
The Timberwolves might not be ready for Edwards to call them championship contenders.
He still sounds plenty ready for another shot at the Spurs.
