Rookie/Sophomore Report

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As far as fantasy basketball is concerned, it is now “crunch time.” If your league hasn’t already begun its postseason, there isn’t much time left to lock down the best possible playoff seed. That makes the quest for hidden gems all the more important, and it also means that injuries will have a much greater impact than they do earlier in the season. This week’s Rookie/Sophomore Report will begin with a key injury that has impacted the Timberwolves’ rotation.

Timberwolves’ Edwards dealing with knee pain

Anthony Edwards was held out of Tuesday’s win over the Warriors due to patellar tendinopathy in his left knee, an issue that the second-year guard has been dealing with for quite some time. And it’s understandable, given the workload that Edwards has taken on. In 128 NBA games, he’s played a total of 4,249 minutes, which works out to 33.2 minutes per game (34.6 mpg in 2021-22). Edwards did not miss a game last season, and given the amount of time that teammates D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns missed in 2020-21 (50 games combined), he was asked to take on an even heavier workload than the Timberwolves may have preferred.

Is this the reason why Edwards is now dealing with lingering knee pain? There’s no way to say this for certain, but the workload that he’s taken on has to be a concern. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said that “everything was on the table” regarding Edwards. He could be back in short order, or this could be a situation in which Minnesota decides to shut him down for the time being. Jaden McDaniels, also a second-year player, replaced Edwards in the starting lineup Tuesday night. Remaining a spot starter…