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Timberwolves Face Doctor's Long-Term Warning After Anthony Edwards Knee Surgery
A sports physician says Anthony Edwards' knee cleanup fixes the short term but could add wear later, while the Timberwolves say they aren't worried long term.
Anthony Edwards' right knee surgery went as planned. What happens to that knee over the next several years is now the open question for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Dr. Brian Sutterer, a sports medicine physician whose YouTube injury breakdowns draw a large audience, has warned that an arthroscopic cleanup like Edwards' can fix the problem in front of him while adding wear to the joint over time. Heavy.com reported the warning, and Yahoo Sports carried it.
Sutterer's point is that a debridement, which trims frayed or damaged tissue, is not a major structural repair. Still, removing tissue from the knee of an explosive, high-impact guard can speed up wear and make further procedures more likely later. He also pointed to Edwards' history. Last season Edwards dealt with patellofemoral pain in the right knee, played a career-low 61 regular-season games, and then hyperextended his left knee and bruised the bone during the playoffs, as Bleacher Report summarized.
The team is not using that kind of language. Shams Charania of ESPN first reported that Edwards would miss up to two months. The problem showed up on imaging taken after his 47-point night in the 127-125 overtime loss at Cleveland. Tim Connelly, the president of basketball operations, told reporters it was not a meniscus injury and that he expects Edwards back this season, according to KARE 11. The procedure happened Thursday, and FOX 9 reported that the team called it successful. Connelly called the knee "not something we are concerned with long term," per Bleacher Report, and the team has said it will give a full timeline later. Reporting from The Athletic has pointed to a return sometime in December.
Edwards was playing like an MVP candidate. He was averaging 33.3 points, second in the league, with two 40-point games in the first four. Without him, the offense now runs more through LaMelo Ball, with Ayo Dosunmu among those picking up the extra work.
What it means against the Clippers
Minnesota is 3-2 and has lost two straight by a combined seven points. It won 131-106 at Miami, 115-93 at Orlando and 117-94 against Toronto. Then came the overtime loss in Cleveland and a 119-114 home loss to Golden State on Wednesday, the first game after the surgery news. The Wolves host the LA Clippers on Friday.
On this site's board for the game, Minnesota is still favored even without Edwards. Novig has the Wolves at -257 on the moneyline, and BetRivers has the best price at -240. Twelve venues are posting the game, and sportsbook hold runs from 3.5% to 5.1%. On the spread, Novig has Minnesota at -7.5 for +108 and LA at +7.5 for -111. theScore Bet has the best Clippers price, -105 at the same number, and Pinnacle has the Wolves at -7 for -105. Novig's total sits at 222.5, with the over at -106 and the under at +102. Elsewhere the total ranges from 221.5 to 223.5. The board still treats Minnesota as clearly the better team at home. The Wolves now have to show they can close out games without the player who was carrying their late-game offense.