Emulating peak Harden! Edwards aims to increase free throw attempts: hopes to reach Alexander's level

On November 14th Beijing time, according to Sports Illustrated, one of the Timberwolves' goals this season is to get Edwards to the free throw line more often, and to achieve this, they have adopted an interesting approach: studying Harden at his peak.

This information comes from commentator Mark Jones, who revealed during the Kings vs. Timberwolves game that he had discussed this strategy with Timberwolves' player development director Chris Haines.

"Haines said that a few weeks ago, he sat down to watch game footage of James Harden from the 2018-19 season. They are analyzing Harden’s rhythm, changes of pace, crossover moves, and ability to draw fouls. The Timberwolves coaching staff believes that if Edwards can get to the free throw line more often—ideally reaching Alexander’s level—not only will his personal ceiling rise, but the entire team’s potential will improve," Jones explained.

Between the 2012-13 and 2019-20 seasons, Harden led the league in both free throws made and attempted in seven out of eight seasons. During that period, he consistently ranked in the top ten of MVP voting every year, including six times in the top five, once third place, twice second place, and he won MVP in the 2017-18 season.

Why does the Timberwolves specifically focus on Harden’s 2018-19 season performance? While we can’t be certain, it likely relates to Harden’s peak form that year—he averaged a career-high 36.1 points per game, with a career-best 13.2 three-point attempts per game, yet still managed to get 11.0 free throw attempts per game, an astonishing feat.

Harden played 36.8 minutes per game that season, whereas Edwards has averaged only 28.4 minutes per game this season, though his usual playing time is around 35-36 minutes. Given this, we can compare Harden’s 2018-19 per-game stats to Edwards’ per-36-minute stats over his seven games this season.

Although Harden’s per-game numbers in 2018-19 surpass Edwards’ per-36-minute stats this season, this is understandable—after all, Harden is a pure point guard, while Edwards often plays off the ball.

If Edwards can get to the free throw line as frequently as Harden or Alexander, his scoring numbers could improve further. So far this season, Alexander has averaged 9.3 free throw attempts across 13 games, while Edwards averages 5.6 attempts per game.

Like Harden, Alexander is a master at controlling tempo and using crossovers, excelling at drawing fouls and convincingly influencing referees to call them.

After the Timberwolves were eliminated in the Western Conference Finals last season, head coach Chris Finch expressed a desire for Edwards to improve his ability to draw fouls.

“You see now in the league, it’s very clear which actions get rewarded with whistles. You have to put in more work in that area, even if it’s not the style he originally prefers, but clearly, it’s effective,” Finch said.

In the upcoming games, we will closely watch whether Edwards incorporates some of Harden’s playing style.