Minnesota Timberwolves: Juancho Hernangomez suffers serious shoulder injury

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Juan Hernangomez has suffered a shoulder injury while participating in a scrimmage with Spain’s national team in advance of the Tokyo Olympics.

The injury was significant enough that the Wolves were compelled to issue a statement, and subsequent reporting suggests that the injury could be severe.

Minnesota Timberwolves Juancho Hernangomez suffers serious shoulder injury

The injury was reported as a left shoulder dislocation. His absence for the remainder of international play was acknowledged by the Spanish federation before the Timberwolves issued their own public statement.

It was fair to assume that the injury could fall in the category of severe dislocations, given the fact that each entity issued a statement.

Then, later in the evening, Dane Moore of the Dane Moore NBA Podcast reported the most concrete information we have on the injury.

Yikes. That’s a scary injury, and apparently, one that could cause chronic discomfort.

This online resource does not paint an encouraging picture, and Shoreline Orthopedic includes the following under their explanation of a Grade 5 shoulder separation (which, as Dane notes, is different than a dislocation, but the terminology here certainly implies that a separation escalates to dislocation when there is tearing of ligaments, etc.):

"Involves tearing of the joint covering (capsule) and ligaments connecting the shoulder blade (scapula) and collar bone (clavicle), and the end of the collar bone (clavicle) tears through the muscle covering (fascia) above it. Results in a large, permanent bump over the top of the shoulder at the AC joint. Pain typically lasts 4-8 weeks, however chronic discomfort is common. Surgery is frequently recommended."

Of course, it’s important to note that the team has not commented further, surely because the injury occurred in Spain and the Timberwolves medical team hasn’t had the chance to evaluate Hernangeomez in person as of yet.

Hernangomez had a terrible start to the 2020-21 season, reporting out of shape and eventually contracting COVID-19 only a few weeks into the campaign. After the head coaching change, he found a role and arguably played his best basketball when Chris Finch slotted him in at the 3 instead of the 4.

Obviously, the concern here is for Hernangomez’s health and well-being, but an injury like this will surely sideline him for the start of the season, tanking any trade value that he may have had. It also handicaps the frontcourt depth for Finch.

Needless to say, Gersson Rosas has his work cut out for him trying to find a replacement for Hernangomez with basically no cap space and zero draft picks.