The Timberwolves are heading into a stretch without Anthony Edwards, and that reality hit on Tuesday when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the star guard will miss a couple of months after arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday.
It’s not where Minnesota wanted to be, especially after such a sharp start to the season. But this group has already shown it can survive a major loss and keep moving. And in a weird way, the Nuggets helped reinforce that belief.
Bones Hyland put it plainly on Wednesday when asked about Minnesota playing without Edwards.
Bones Hyland when asked about Minnesota playing without Anthony Edwards.
"We loaded, bro. We got a lot of talent on the team, lotta guys who can step in. Last year when we played the Nuggets, guys sat out from injuries and we stepped up." pic.twitter.com/iwnmTKL1IN
- Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 28, 2026
Hyland’s point lands because Minnesota has lived this before. The regular season is one thing, the playoffs were another, but the Timberwolves have already spent meaningful time figuring out how to function when key pieces are missing. That experience matters now.
They’re also better equipped for it than they were in last year’s postseason. LaMelo Ball gives them a player who can absorb some of the burden as the No. 1 option, just as he did with the Hornets.
Through Minnesota’s first four games, he has averaged 14.8 points on 12.3 shots a night, a drop from his career norm of 20.7 points on 17.5 attempts. The Wolves will need that number to climb, but they know he can handle that role.
They also know Jaden McDaniels can be part of the answer.
Minnesota’s confidence isn’t fragile, even with Edwards out. That was obvious in the postseason when Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu were also sidelined and the team leaned hard into a next-man-up approach. That mindset is back now, and it gives the Timberwolves a path through the regular-season grind until Edwards returns.
And if they need a reminder of how to handle adversity, they can point to the games against Denver. The Nuggets understand better than anyone what Minnesota can do without Edwards. Denver doesn’t see the Timberwolves again until Dec. 28, then Dec. 31, and there’s a chance Edwards is back by then.
Maybe none of that even matters. Minnesota has already shown the Nuggets it can win this matchup, and if Denver brings the same level of resistance it showed in the playoffs, the Timberwolves will have that much more reason to believe they can keep rolling.
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What makes his role even more interesting is the possibility that his outside shot might be coming along at the right time. With the Nuggets dealing with multiple injuries and the perimeter numbers lagging, any real boost from DeRozan beyond the arc would matter a lot for an offense that needs more reliable shooting around Jokic. If that part of his game keeps trending up, it could quietly change how Denver manages the minutes and matchups that have already started to define its early-season rotation. [Read more 🡒]