One night after a 47-point masterpiece, the Timberwolves star will have an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee — and Minnesota’s hot start just got complicated.
The cruelest injury news is the kind that arrives right after a career night. Anthony Edwards will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his ailing right knee that will sideline him for up to two months, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania, per ESPN. The Minnesota Timberwolves star had been listed as questionable before Monday’s game against Cleveland — then played a season-high 41 minutes and scored 47 points in a 127-125 overtime loss, per ESPN.
The knee has been talking for a while
This was not a sudden break; it was a problem Minnesota managed until managing it stopped working. Edwards began grabbing his right knee during Sunday’s home-opener win over Toronto, and coach Chris Finch called it a “daily situation” before Monday’s game, saying at the time he was not worried about a long-term concern, per ESPN. It is the same leg in which Edwards dealt with runner’s knee last season, per ESPN, and he also suffered a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise during last season’s playoffs while avoiding ligament damage.
Edwards, 25, played through soreness and inflammation in the right knee through last season and the postseason, then took about two months off over the summer to rest both knees without surgery, per Reuters / Field Level Media. Rest bought him four games. Surgery is now the chosen fix, and the team views the timing as proactive: The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski reported the hope is Edwards returns sometime in December at full health, per the Sporting News — back around Christmas at the latest, with months to rebuild chemistry before the playoffs, per NBC Sports.
What Minnesota loses
Start with the obvious: Edwards was off to the best start of his career, averaging 33.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 48% shooting through four games, per ESPN. The four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA Second Team selection has career averages of 24.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 446 games since going No. 1 overall in 2020, per Field Level Media. The Timberwolves are 3-1 — and they host Golden State on Wednesday night with their franchise player headed for an operating room, per Reuters.
The minutes and the shots have to go somewhere. LaMelo Ball has willingly played facilitator through the first four games — setting up Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert — and that mindset now has to change, at least somewhat, per NBC Sports. McDaniels, who has looked like a player taking a step forward to start the season, will face far more defensive attention and offensive pressure, and Ayo Dosunmu is among those who must step up, per the Sporting News.
Minnesota is not the only contender learning this lesson early: the Thunder have already lost Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to surgery, and Utah’s Jaren Jackson Jr. is out at least six weeks. October has been brutal across the league.
The 247 Take — Forty-seven points on a knee that needed surgery the next day tells you everything about Edwards — and everything about why Minnesota had to shut this down now. A December return with a healthy star beats a heroic November followed by a lost spring, every single time.
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Sources: ESPN; Reuters / Field Level Media; NBC Sports; Sporting News
