Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly says it’s “probably fair” to assume Karl-Anthony Towns will be back from his calf injury after the NBA All-Star break. Connelly also eliminated the idea that Towns could miss the rest of the season.
Out since Nov. 28 with a serious right calf strain, Towns was originally forecast to miss 4-6 weeks. But that prediction came from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who turned out to be wrong. It’s been more than two months since the injury and Towns is still wearing a walking boot.
“I think we’ve been consistent. It’s just indefinite,” Connelly told KFAN’s Dan Barreiro on Monday. “When a guy gets hurt, all we care about is the guy getting healthy. We don’t care if it takes a day or a year. It was a very severe injury. I was in D.C. We feared the worst. I was walking down the hallway with one of the attending physicians, he feared the worst. I think we dodged a bullet but it doesn’t minimize what was a really nasty calf strain.”
Connelly said Towns’ injury has been “complicated” by his size as a 7-footer.
“Quite frankly, much more complicated than we would’ve guessed initially. A lot of twists and turns, but I think the team has a done great job, Karl has a done a great job. We all want the same thing: Get him back out there fully healthy as soon as possible, but he’s gotta get fully healthy first,” said Connelly.
Minnesota is 27-26 overall but owns the NBA’s third-best record (11-5) since Jan. 1. If Towns is out until after the All-Star break it would mean he’s not back until at least Feb. 24.
“Yeah, I don’t’ want to give a timeframe. Just say indefinite,” said Connelly when asked if he has specific date in mind for Towns’ return.
“He’s trending in a really positive direction. He’ll be out there when he’ll be ready to be out there. He’s doing everything in his power, he’s really working at a high-high level to speed that process up. I think that’s probably fair to say but I don’t want to put any timeframe on it.”
Asked if he expects Towns back this season, Connelly answered: “Yeah, that’s our full expectation.”
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