As the Minnesota Timberwolves look to close out their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, they are no doubt concerned about star Anthony Edwards‘ health.
Edwards is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks with a knee injury. That casts doubt on his playoff availability. Even if the Timberwolves are able to hold on and eliminate the Nuggets in the first round, they are likely to face the San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals.
Not having him for that series would be a gut punch and potentially make them significant underdogs. Fortunately for the Timberwolves, team insider John Krawczynski just provided an interesting update.
Everything I’m told, backed by what Chris Finch said to @PAOnTheMic this morning, is that Anthony Edwards fully intends to return to the playoffs at some point, if the Wolves can stay in the fight. If they advance, my gut says their next opponent will see him at some point.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 27, 2026
Despite him potentially being weeks away from returning, Krawczynski expects Edwards to return during the West semifinals.
Surprising Anthony Edwards gives Timberwolves a big boost
If Edwards returns during the West semis, it would give the Wolves a chance at advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the third straight year. Even so, it would depend heavily on when he returns and if the Wolves can hold up without him.
If they can close out the Nuggets in six games, they could be without Edwards for at least two games in the second round. Both of those games would be road games in San Antonio, so it’s hard to imagine Minnesota could beat the Spurs without Edwards.
Having him return by Game 3 of their series against the Spurs seems like a reasonable target date. However, that depends heavily on the severity of the injury.
Can Anthony Edwards realistically return in the playoffs?
If a potential Spurs and Timberwolves series begins early next week, Game 3 would be right around two weeks since his injury. If he is able to return in a couple of weeks, then that is definitely doable.
But what if he is out for three weeks? That would place his return closer to Game 5. By then, unless the Wolves are able to steal a game in San Antonio and protect home court, it wouldn’t make sense to bring him back and risk him reinjuring himself.
The injury he suffered often has a recovery time of at least a month. That doesn’t even factor in that he was playing through a right knee injury.
Were the Wolves able to advance to the Western Conference Finals without both him and Donte DiVincenzo, his return would be more likely.
Nevertheless, they still have to close out the Nuggets and beat the Spurs without their best player. Unless Krawczynski is right, Edwards’ season may be over.