I thought this gave some useful medical as well as historical NBA reference points to discuss

With the league changing to a 65 game rule, this inevitably will and has started messing with people’s contracts and earning potential. It’s unfortunate Ant has been affected by this the most, and sadly he’s had 2 all NBA’s ripped from his award mantle.

I used to measure career’s of players by how many all NBA’s they receive as well as the eye test, but now we will see if they use Ant’s lack of All NBA honors against him.

We’ve had many seasons where guys play 50 games or less and still make it. Now we have guys getting 3rd team All NBA that shouldn’t be.

Been following this team more and more over the last few years. Not a basketball fan, but I'm a Minnesota sports fan. But did you know, Chase Budinger is now a professional beach volley ball player?!

The news today that Anthony Edwards is going to require arthroscopic knee surgery - sidelining him for "up to 2 months" - carries a mind-blowing subtext that goes beyond any Western Conference standings: before Halloween has even arrived, his postseason award eligibility is essentially dead on arrival. This means MVP, All-NBA teams, and most importantly (for him), his supermax extension eligibility for this upcoming offseason.

​This NBA/CBA rule enforces a strict minimum of 65 games played with at least 20 minutes logged (with a 2-game 15 -19 minute allowance and a season-ending injury exception) to be eligible for end-of-season awards. The idea was to curb "load management" so healthy stars consistently play in regular season games, rewarding fans, broadcast partners, and ticket buyers. A noble idea, but put into practice, it's an unfair proposition. Ant's recent injury is a perfect example and here's why:

​Ant would have to return on Dec. 1 vs. Portland, play that night, and then play all 61 remaining games without missing a single back-to-back, twisting an ankle, or getting sick. Yet when he plays, like almost all superstars in the NBA, he logs around 36 minutes a night. So the rule isn't really targeting "load management"; it's an attendance contest that treats a superstar loading 36 minutes a night the exact same as a reserve barely clocking 20. Worst of all, if a blowout allows a coach to pull a star after an explosive 2.5 quarters, or they have a minor injury mid-game, an arbitrary per game minute floor risks wasting the appearance entirely, thereby punishing a player for dominating early.

​The NBA needs to scrap this rigid 65 game mandate entirely and replace it with a 50% + 1 minute threshold: 1,969 total minutes across an 82-game regular season. Instead of letting blowout rest or mid-game injuries erase eligibility, a cumulative minutes pool ties awards directly to on-court labor.

​Here's the math: A 30 minute starter clears the bar in 66 games, while a superstar carrying 36 minutes a night reaches it in just 55 games, providing a realistic 27 game cushion to recover from legitimate injuries like Ant's knee surgery. Fifty-five nights of elite, heavy minute basketball carries far more regular season value than a player clocking in for 20 minutes across 65 games.

​Superstars like Ant shouldn't lose an All-NBA legacy (and the extra millions that come with it) to a calendar quota when their real value is measured on the court, minute by minute!

LaMelo has to be more aggressive as a scorer.

His playmaking is most dangerous when defenses are equally worried about him getting his own shot, forcing defenders to commit and creating easier opportunities for Rudy, Jaden, and everyone else. If he constantly prioritizes setting the table, he risks making himself easier to guard and placing too much offensive responsibility on Ant which negates the whole point in his acquisition.

His willingness to get everyone involved is valuable, but there’s a difference between elevating your teammates and leaving your own offensive ability underutilized. Melo has to be able to take ownership of possessions just like in Charlotte, hunt his shots, and embrace the responsibility of being a primary scoring option when need be. He and Jaden have seemingly developed a two man game, yet it was never utilized in the second half.

LaMelo and Jaden having 11 and 9 shots can’t happen. Jaden only had 3 shots in the 2nd half.

LaMelo wasn’t brought here to cosplay Mike Conley. It’s one game, but the beginning of the 2nd half lacked assertiveness and that shouldn’t be happening with a team that has 3 All Star level players.

That being said it’s only 1 game, Wolves still going to the chip! Rudy will learn to catch, this is the year he’s only 34 there’s still time!!!

Timberwolves ownership, GM, head coach, someone has some explaining to do.

How does he have 4 great games, showing no signs of injury or fatigue, to suddenly out for 2 months with knee surgery?

Did he injure it in the last game where he scored 47? Was it already injured in the off-season and he wanted to play through it?

Who botched this because none of this makes sense.....

With LaMelo being on a min restriction, we’re gonna need Jmac, Joku and the bench to really step up if we want to keep winning games with Ant out. With that being said we’re still a top 5 team in the west as long as Melo stays healthy 🤲

If he is not eligible now for the extension, how would our cap space look going forward?

Since ant man is out, does this mean Cody Williams minutes 🥹🥹🥹

Is that true?? That’s scary if true.

Silver protects all his other stars but won’t protect Ant. Then this shit happens

His main contribution on the court is scoring from the guard position, which collectively you have to feel okay about TJ, Ayo and Bones picking up a lot of that slack. JADEN this is your time to really show how much of an alpha you can be.

Losing Rudy.... Well maybe now with Joan looking awesome might be okay, but still the defense would take a massive hit and depth in front court at large.

Losing LaMelo... We have no real table setter on the roster besides him. His positional size advantage makes up for smaller frontcourt.

Losing JK.... Def would be the easiest to replace but Been absolutely elite at all the small things which maybe you could get some of from Trey but still not many natural replacements of those intangibles that are absolutely helping win.

Losing Jaden... Losing his length, POA defense, hyper efficient scoring etc etc. He's such a fucking all around monster.

Fucking blows, should've addressed it in the summer clearly, but we seem to be in a solid position to withstand the blow and hold er down until Black Jesus gets back. Rest up King.

Hows everyone holding up after the recent news?

Does this injury completely prevent him from making all nba teams/ winning any awards?

8 weeks???? 8 weeks until he can play full speed or 8 weeks u til he can start rehab???

The devil is in the details here and we shouldn’t assume he’s gonna back to 40 mpg in December. It’s gonna be a slow progression back to normal and in all honesty next year would be 100%

My opinion:

He’ll barely be ready by playoffs IF we make it.

I’m open to hearing opinions/facts from anyone, BUT the dude who told us “it’s just pain management but there’s nothing structurally wrong with the knee”. 😂 That guy can never speak again about anything Timberwolves related.

PS: I want my flowers for calling it in the face of searing adversity from all of you. Gimme what I crave god dammit!!

I wish my horrible take was wrong. FMl 🤦

If he can replicate what he did in Charlotte during that January - April run where they went 33–16 then I’ll be satisfied. This time he has a better roster around him but this time he’s in the western conference which will be difficult to overcome considering the teams they will be facing during the 2 months Anthony Edwards will be out but let’s hope for the best.

Absolutely devastating news we all are dealing with right now. There is a silver lining. Ball will take Ant’s time away to be the lead dog. Assuming Ant returns healthy this will allow Ball to learn how to takeover a game with this roster and keep us in playoff contention. First couple weeks might be rough but don’t get into your typical “oh no Minnesota sports are cursed” doom thinking.

Does anybody know when and why Kyle Thiege stopped appearing on the show? I don’t like the skor north guys for basketball but Kyle was a reason to watch. I stopped for a while and when I watched again I noticed he wasn’t on there at all. Thought it was weird since it was his and Phil’s show.

I know we expected this team to go 82-0, but this is your friendly reminder that even an ELITE season by NBA standards, which is 60 wins, comes with a whopping 22 losses.

It will be OK. Rudy will be OK. We will all be OK.

We made allot of mistakes. But if can improve just by 20% we would be breaking NBA records and be one of the greatest NBA teams of all time. Us being bad is still the top of the League and I dont care what anyone says. We will win the chip this year.

Our playing bad = the top NBA teams playing at their best.

He’ll come back healed up and we’ll fuck up the league on a revenge tour. It’s better to get this out the way than have him injured again in the playoffs.

We the best the team in the league with or without Ant, and he needed his rest anyways. We got a stud second option better than most teams first. We have the best defense in the west, maybe the league. We got the greatest defender of all time and we also got Jaden McDaniels (mini KD).

Ants gonna be an all star, make first team, and when he gets back he’s gonna be so fucking good they’ll get rid of the 65 game rule and just give the mvp to him anyways. It don’t matter if we losing or if we winning. There gon be nights we’re rudy is shit and LaMelo got 7 TOs, and even then were better than half the teams in the league. This the year the narrative changes from OKC vs SA to us n just us. RIP Flip and Go Wolves 🐺