Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards is expected to miss up to two months as he undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his ailing right knee, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. This is stunning news, as it comes less than 24 hours after Edwards played like a superhero, scoring 47 points in an overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Rather than have Edwards continue to play on the injured knee, the team decided to address the issue early in the season, with December as the target for Edwards' return, per The Athletic.
The surgery is scheduled for Thursday, per ESPN. This is the same knee that gave Edwards trouble last season and he was listed as questionable for Wednesday's game against the Golden State Warriors with "right knee injury maintenance" earlier Tuesday. He has since been downgraded to out.
Edwards, who was seen grabbing at his right knee during Sunday's win over the Toronto Raptors, missed the final game of Minnesota's first-round playoff win over the Denver Nuggets last year with a hyperextension to this same knee, but was able to return against the San Antonio Spurs for Game 1 of the conference semifinals off the bench. This was from The Athletic's game story on Monday night: "Edwards dealt with a hyperextended left knee in the playoffs last season and was also bothered by inflammation in his right knee. He played through it in inspiring fashion, getting around-the-clock treatment and having his right knee drained multiple times to stay available, and said in the preseason that he took most of two months off to allow both knees to heal." It sure looked like that time he took off this summer had worked.
The Wolves are 3-1 and were looking like one of the league's best teams behind the electric duo of Edwards and LaMelo Ball, who was acquired from the Charlotte Hornets in a June blockbuster. Through the first week and change, Edwards is averaging 33.3 points per game and leading the league with 18 3-pointers at a 40% clip. He already has games of 45 and 47 points, and did so on a right knee that needs surgery.
The Wolves have to hold the fort down as best they can without Edwards, and their best chance at doing so in a deep Western Conference is for Ball to lead the offensive charge. Edwards is a two-way star. This will affect the Wolves' second-ranked defense, but there is more infrastructure in place on that side.
Ball is Minnesota's best bet to continue creating quality offense and you'd have to imagine his scoring will tick up. Take the tiny sample for what it's worth, but so far this season the Wolves are operating at what would be a bottom-10 offensive rate over 74 non-garbage-time possessions with Ball on the court without Edwards, per Cleaning the Glass. That will obviously need to improve.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
