Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards ESPN’s Shams Charania will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and miss up to two months tweets.
As Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix points out (Link to Twitter), it was a brutal opening week. Jalen Williams, Paolo Bunchera, Kawhi Leonard, Jaren Jackson Jr, Cason Wallace and Jalen Suggs all have been sidelined with serious injuries, and now Edwards joins that group.
Edwards has been dealing with knee pain and the club is looking to address the issue as soon as possible with the hope that he will be back and fully fit sometime in December, John Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets. Despite his illness, Edwards is off to an impressive start, averaging 33.3 points, including 47 in Monday’s overtime win over Cleveland.
Kravchinsky noted in A story published before surgery it was discovered that while his shots were falling, Edwards did not have his usual burst and occasionally walked with a limp. He wasn’t cleared to play against the Cavs until after pregame warmups and was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against Golden State. Krawczynski added that Edwards was dealing with a hyperextended left knee in last season’s playoffs and was also bothered by inflammation in his right knee.
During his first five NBA seasons, Edwards never appeared in fewer than 72 games. He played in 79 games over three straight seasons until last season, when he was limited to 61 games, mostly due to a foot injury.
With Edwards out, a new partner in the backcourt Lamela’s ball will no doubt try to get more scoring slack. Ayo Dosunmu, Terrence Shannon Jr and Isaiah Evans their playing time will increase as Minnesota tries to survive without its franchise player.