The Minnesota Timberwolves need every win. They have lost two straight games to fall to seventh in the Western Conference. They were in the conference finals last season and want to make another deep run. It will be difficult to do that from the Play-In Tournament in the loaded Western Conference.
The trade deadline is on Thursday, and Minnesota needs to make a move. Mike Conley continues to struggle. The franchise is light on options at point guard and exploring everything. It may be time to make another significant splash, especially after the latest news.
Julius Randle suffered a right adductor injury that will cost him time. Here is the latest on the injury and what fans can expect in his absence.
Julius Randle out multiple weeks with an adductor injury
The Timberwolves announced Randle would be out for at least two weeks with the injury. That is not good news as Minnesota needs every victory and is still trying to find their balance with Randle.
The Wolves have six games left before the All-Star break. They face the Bulls on Wednesday before things quickly get difficult. Minnesota has matchups against the Rockets, Cavaliers, Bucks, and Thunder before returning to action on Feb. 21 for a difficult open with the Rockets, Thunder twice, and Lakers in the first four games. It is not a great time to be without your number two scoring option.
Randle will miss at least six games. He should be able to return after the All-Star break if all goes well, but the Timberwolves need to find a way to win without him. Randle has missed their last two games, which were losses to the Kings and Wizards. He is a key part of their attack and may cause the Wolves to drop four of six heading into their time off.
The Timberwolves will start Naz Reid next to Rudy Gobert in the frontcourt with Randle sidelined. The injury leaves them very thin. Nickeil Alexander-Walker becomes their sixth man, but it means Luka Garza has handle frontcourt minutes. Minnesota could just go small, but that is problematic in certain matchups. They will stagger Gobert and Reid, but the Wolves desperately need another big man.
Donte DiVincenzo is also out, which leaves the franchise with nothing to show for the Karl-Anthony Towns trade until one of them returns. Minnesota was not a deep team to begin with. Missing two key rotation pieces has them facing a daunting task, and the schedule-makers did them zero favors.
The Minnesota Timberwolves want to make a deep playoff run. They need Julius Randle healthy to accomplish that. He will miss a couple of weeks, but should be ready to go before the calendar flips to March. It should be all about getting him healthy and helping him maximize Anthony Edwards and the rest of the Wolves. Stay tuned for all the latest and to see if it happens.