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Timberwolves
The Wolves didn’t have Jaden McDaniels on Wednesday and Anthony Edwards kept searching for his rhythm.
Edwards went 6-of-20 from the field, 1-of-8 from deep and is now 3-of-30 over his past four from beyond the arc.
Didn’t matter early. As Chris Hine of the Star Tribune wrote, Minnesota built a 27-point cushion on the lowly Wizards thanks to Julius Randle and Naz Reid, the two big-money offseason signees who combined for 60 points and 15 rebounds.
The problem came next. The lead evaporated to five in the fourth before the Wolves finally settled down and closed it out.
“We got lucky, to be honest,” Randle said. “Our edge and our activity and our aggressiveness… we kind of left it in here at halftime. We have to be better than that.”
Reid nodded, then added: “Not like that. It’s still an NBA team. We know better than to put ourselves in that situation.”
Reid has looked more like himself lately. After a rough opening stretch, he’s up to 20.3 points and 8.8 boards over his last four while shooting .552 from the field and .483 from three.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic noted that teammates see exactly why Minnesota invested five years and $125 million in him.
“He’s a starter coming off the bench for us,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “One of the best bigs in the league. We can play him with so many different guys.”
Raptors
Toronto took heat for giving up a first-rounder for Brandon Ingram and then signing him to a three-year, $120 million extension while he sat the entire 2024-25 season. So far? Looks like a win.
As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca wrote, Ingram has re-wired the Raptors’ offense in a way the team hasn’t seen since Kawhi Leonard.
The numbers — 20.9 points and 3.9 assists on .496 shooting — don’t scream MVP, but the impact is massive. He bends defenses. He creates space.
And the Raptors are 10-5 with nine wins in their past 10, now sitting seventh in offensive rating after finishing 26th last season.
“Teams know how dangerous he is,” Scottie Barnes said. “Once he gets to his spots, it’s unstoppable.”
Barnes himself is playing at an All-Star level again.
As Michael Grange of Sportsnet pointed out, only three players — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Garnett and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — have ever carried Barnes’ current mix of points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals over a full season. He’s shooting 50 percent from the floor and 38.9 percent from deep.
And the schedule stays friendly with Washington, Brooklyn, Indiana and Charlotte all on deck.
Mavericks
Dante Exum’s season is over before it started. The Mavericks announced he’ll undergo surgery on his right knee and miss the entire 2025-26 season.
Exum hadn’t played yet this fall because of complications from an offseason procedure. The 29-year-old’s career has been a string of stops and starts, with a torn ACL, ankle issues, shoulder issues, and wrist and hand injuries over the past two seasons.
When healthy, he’s been a terrific role player in Dallas, shooting .516 from the field and .472 from three last year.
Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal noted the Mavs never publicly disclosed that Exum had knee surgery in the offseason. They even had to stretch Olivier-Maxence Prosper’s $3 million salary just to create enough hard-cap room to re-sign Exum on a minimum deal.
It was a risky bet given his injury history and the team’s lack of guard depth behind Kyrie Irving.
Dallas could waive Exum to free a roster spot, but without hard-cap room, they can’t sign a replacement until January unless another cost-cutting move happens.
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