Anthony Edwards recently missed six straight games with a right knee injury. He came back for the Minnesota Timberwolves' most recent outing, a victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
As of this writing, Ant-Man is listed as questionable for Thursday’s outing against the Detroit Pistons with right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome. While I do expect him to play against a top team in the league, one more missed game takes Edwards out of the running for NBA honors.
Edwards is looking to be All-NBA for third-straight yearÂ
In each of the last two seasons, Edwards has found his way onto the All-NBA second team. He has finished seventh and tied for seventh in MVP voting. Currently just 24 years old, it was expected that further improvements made in his game could allow him to finish even higher in ensuing years.
Unfortunately for him, one more missed game will cause Ant-Man to not be eligible to be considered for All-NBA or MVP. If he misses one, Edwards will have played in 65 games. Due to leaving early in an October game against the Indiana Pacers, that game does not count towards the 65-game minimum threshold.
If he’s not 100 percent, it probably would be wise to sit Ant out a game, whether against Detroit or someone else. The playoffs are less than three weeks away. The decision to do so, though, is made all the more difficult by his losing award eligibility by sitting him out.
Edwards is still signed for three more years after this season, and thus is not yet concerned about how not making an All-NBA team can affect how much he can make on his next deal. Still, players take pride in being named as one of the top stars in a season.
Plus, the opportunity could be there for Ant to make his first-ever All-NBA first team. As long as they reach the minimum game threshold, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic are locks to be on it.
Cade Cunningham likely would have been the fifth, but a collapsed lung means he probably isn't going to have played enough games at season’s end. Jaylen Brown and Kawhi Leonard are two others who could find their way onto the first team.
On the season, Edwards is averaging a career-high 29.3 points with career-best shooting marks of 49.3 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from 3-point distance. In February, he was named the MVP of the All-Star game.