Timberwolves

Schroedinger's KAT

Photo Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

On Jan. 20, Karl-Anthony Towns used his Twitch stream to clarify his injury status. He suffered a calf strain in a Nov. 28 loss to the Washington Wizards and hadn’t played since then. A source told the Star Tribune that four to six weeks could be the potential timeline, but that wasn’t definite. The Minnesota Timberwolves released a statement saying Towns underwent an MRI at Mayo Clinic Square that confirmed a right calf strain. However, they did not list a timeline.

Towns revealed that he had a Grade 3 strain on his late January Twitch stream. “Grade 3,” he said in response to someone in the chat room while playing a video game with Rudy Gobert. “I don’t know what Grade 2 they was trying to talk about.”

It’s uncertain who the “they” is that Towns was referring to on his stream. Neither the Star Tribune nor The Athletic gave a definitive timeline. Adrian Wojnarowski offered four to six weeks on ESPN but never said it was a Grade 2 injury. Most of the reporting around the calf strain focused on clarifying that it was not an Achilles injury, which is more severe. Four to six weeks is typical for a Grade 2 strain, but the indefinite timeline suggests it could be worse. Regardless, the Wolves did not have an updated timeline after they returned from the All-Star break.

“He’s itching to play,” Finch said on Feb. 24. “I don’t think that it’s a question of anything like going off path right now. It’s just literally just going through the final stages of what that looks like.

“I don’t know how long it’s going to be, but talking to him, I definitely sense more so than any other conversation I’ve had with him up until this point that he’s chomping at the bit to get back and ready to help this team when that time comes.”

Since Towns went down in late November, Anthony Edwards has emerged as Minnesota’s star player. He has top-7 player potential and will ultimately drive winning for the Timberwolves. But without Towns, they have to run a heliocentric offense around Edwards, which isn’t ideal.

Furthermore, Tim Connelly prioritized Towns when he made the Gobert trade. Gobert’s strength, defense, offsets Towns’ greatest weakness. However, Towns and Gobert clogged the lane when they played together, taking away from Edwards’ ability to score at the rim. Ultimately, the Wolves didn’t look very good in the first quarter of the season. They’ve gone from an exciting 46-win team last year to a mediocre .500 squad this season, which is disappointing.

Jaden McDaniels may be the trade’s saving grace. Connelly refused to include him in the deal, spending extra draft capital to maintain the third-year star. But the only way the Wolves can win the Gobert trade is if Edwards, Towns, and Gobert can co-exist and become a 50-plus-win team. Still, winning the trade will be challenging, given that Walker Kessler might be one of the five best players from last year’s draft class. Some experts feel he’s better than Gobert is right now. However, it’s hard to definitively say whether it’s one of the worst trades in NBA history until Towns returns.

Therefore, Towns has become Minnesota’s Schröedinger’s KAT.

If Towns returns, and he, Edwards, and Gobert recapture last year’s magic, then Connelly’s trade looks brilliant. But if he doesn’t, the Wolves need to quickly rebuild the roster around Edwards without many assets. That likely means moving on from Gobert and potentially trading Towns. However, it may be hard for the Wolves to get a read on the Towns-Gobert situation this year. The end of the season is rapidly approaching, there’s no timeline for Towns’ return, and he and Gobert have not had much time to develop chemistry.

The fate of this trade remains unknown until Towns and Gobert play together. But if the chemistry fails, and the Wolves have to rapidly makeover the roster, both players lose value. Opposing front offices will know that the Gobert trade didn’t pan out, and it will be hard for Minnesota to get a fair return for their bigs. Anyone the Wolves try to trade with also will know that they must act quickly because they have to capitalize on Edwards’ ascent.

Ultimately, the issue with Minnesota’s Schröedinger’s KAT situation is that many fans have already made up their minds on the Gobert trade. In one offseason, the Timberwolves have gone from having one of the most fun rosters in team history to an uninspiring .500 team. They also have a road-heavy schedule and are at risk of creating a lottery pick for Utah in the worst-case scenario.

Some people are holding out hope that Connelly didn’t make one of the worst trades in NBA history. However, that’s hardly the same as exhibiting excitement a year after Patrick Beverley lept on top of the scorer’s table and threw his jersey into the crowd. Last year’s team generated a feeling of hope that hadn’t existed since the Kevin Garnett days. The Gobert trade has invited apathy, the worst thing a franchise can do. Towns’ return could change that narrative, but nobody can be certain it will.

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