Anthony Edwards injured, Timberwolves’ season deteriorates

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ season from hell continued Friday night as they lost to the Chicago Bulls in double overtime and may have lost Anthony Edwards for the remainder of the regular season to an ankle injury. There was no official update from the team. Edwards returned to the bench late in the game in a hiking boot and briefly told reporters that he would be fine.

I can appreciate Ant’s attitude and tenacity. He’s played in 71 out of 71 games, while other stars rarely bother to play seven in a row. There are Just three weeks left on the NBA regular-season calendar and the T-Wolves are one game out of the playoffs and one game away from missing the play-in.

But fear not, Minnesota, backup should arrive anytime. (Hey, Karl, that’s your cue.) Karl-Anthony Towns is about to return from a calf injury that has been going on for months. The update from two days ago was that KAT will be back in “coming weeks.” Whatever that better means he’ll be back on the ground soon.

The good

All in all it’s still not that bad, because the soil of the west is miserable. Minnesota must fend off Jazz, Pelicans and Blazers for the 12 seeds. Two of those organizations are in free fall and Danny Ainge is doing everything in his power to keep the third team in the lottery.

Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert are more than capable of playing .500 basketball for a short time, and hopefully It’s long enough to close the gap before Towns returns. Oh, and when that happens, the problems Gobert and Towns had in common better magically go away.

The bad

Minnesota without Edwards is the 2021 Utah Jazz, but older and without Donovan Mitchell, and that’s about as depressing a basketball situation as you’ll find. The front office gave away a million draft picks for Gobert, and the only argument it was a smart move is that he’s the last cornerstone standing.

D’Angelo Russell is a Laker, KAT’s natural state nurtures an injury, and the brightest spot of all spots collapsed on the court Friday night shouted “TIMEOUT!” like trying to stop a fight after being strapped too hard by his older brother.

The front office has attempted to reshape the narrative once before, and it didn’t last. So if this season ends abruptly, the next steps could be more drastic.

the ugly

The only way Wolves will avoid an offseason when pundits wonder who’s unlucky and fans make fake KAT trades is if they get to the playoffs and win a round. It’s possible, but Edwards needs to come back for the playoffs and Towns need to get ballistic as soon as possible and for as long as possible.

Every time we wonder which franchise is the gold standard for mismanagement, Minnesota is offering up a season like this, or the year after the last time they made the playoffs, when Jimmy Butler hacked out of Minneapolis with a machete. Then people ask, “Aren’t you the team that took two point guards by the name of Steph Curry before Steph Curry?” And things just spiraled from there.

So, good luck T-Wolves fans. And just know it’s not your fault.

We really feel bad for Minnesota sports fans, but not enough to write nice things about Kirk Cousins. Continue reading wood wolves And viking News on the Deadspin team pages.