After dropping 47 points and looking like an early MVP favorite, the Minnesota Timberwolves received the devastating news that Anthony Edwards would be out for two months. He has been bothered by knee injuries over the last couple seasons and is getting surgery now to address it.
Minnesota looked like a team that would be in the championship mix and brought in LaMelo Ball to create a more dangerous offense. Now we won’t get to see the Ball-Edwards duo for at least two months, which is a tough pill to swallow given how lethal they have looked together.
The NBA season is a marathon and anything can happen at any time. However even with this news, one thing is clear about the Wolves.
Minnesota will be just fine in Edwards’ absence
And this is where the LaMelo Ball trade helps immensely. Having someone that can be the offensive ecosystem and do it at a high level is so valuable to have in the NBA. Ball has shown that he can lead a very productive offense. With the Hornets last season, he was the reason why they were one of the best offenses in the league.
The Wolves also have the depth. Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosumnu, Jonathan Kuminga, Terrence Shannon Jr., and others can help fill the scoring role that Edwards leaves behind. In the case of McDaniels, he has greatly improved offensively over the last few seasons and is off to a great start this year.
He also showed that he is ready for a bigger offensive role during last playoffs against the Nuggets. He talked trash to Denver and backed it up in a big way, including a 32-point performance to close them out in Game 6.
Kuminga and Shannon can fill that slashing role that Edwards was so good at and both have shown their scoring potential. Bones Hyland could also be someone that will have a bigger role and he is also a bucket getter.
Minnesota also has a great coach in Chris Finch, who has shown that he can rally his players and get the most out of them. He will need to lean into that more than ever.
The Wolves also have a manageable schedule over these next two months and can stack enough wins to be in the contending mix until Edwards gets healthy. So as bad as the news was yesterday, Minnesota has enough to be just fine.
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