The Minnesota Timberwolves had an amazing season that deserves to be celebrated. Anthony Edwards emerged as a star who led the franchise through a prolonged period of time without All-Star forward Karl Anthony-Towns, who 18 games with a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. Meanwhile, the trade for Rudy Gobert seems to be paying major dividends as the big man is in line for a third Defensive Player of the Year award as he anchors one of the best defenses in the league. Any Timberwolves fans should be happy and excited at the prospect of what's to come this postseason.

But, per Zach Lowe's comments on The Lowe Post podcast, The Timberwolves drawing the Suns as their first round opponent is the “worst-case scenario”.

“I think this was a worst-case scenario for Minnesota. I think as a first-round opponent the Suns quietly won 49 games and other than two inexplicable losses one to the Spurs without Wemby and another to the Clippers when they were down 35 to 4, have played mostly pretty damn well for the last 20 games. And they just bring some match-up problems against the double big lineups that have tilted toward the Phoenix strengths and not the Minnesota strengths. Minnesota's size has not won the day against Phoenix's shooting and play-making in that small big conflict. I'm picking Phoenix to win.”

The Timberwolves are facing the Suns as the third seed in the Western Conference, as the Suns narrowly avoided the play-in tournament and secured the sixth seed. The Timberwolves lost all three regular-season games vs. the Suns this season, including the final game of the regular season. In those games, Anthony Edwards didn't fare well, averaging only 14.3 points per game against Phoenix this season. Karl Anthony-Towns played in two of the matchups, scoring 25 points in their November game. If the Timberwolves want to win this series, they certainly will need to get a heightened level of play from both of their young stars in Towns and Edwards.

Anthony Edwards: Best Player in the NBA?

In sports, playoff success ultimately defines your legacy. Anthony Edwards is believed to be the next face of the NBA with his immense athletic abilities  and charismatic personality. Former NBA Player and current ESPN NBA Analyst Austin Rivers spoke highly of Edwards in an interview with the Timberwolves star alongside Malika Andrews, even saying he has the potential to be the best player in the league.

”I think we’re [two or three years] away from you being the best basketball player in the NBA,” Rivers said to Edwards.

Edwards agreed with his sentiment, saying, “Yeah, I 100% agree with [you] for sure.”

But, for Edwards to grow his legend as a budding NBA star, he must rack up playoff wins and moments. Edwards and the Timberwolves have the tremendous opportunity to dispatch Kevin Durant, one of the best players in NBA History, and the Suns to show their legitimacy as title contenders this postseason.

The two teams will square off in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.