After suffering a Grade-2 mid-foot sprain in the Iowa Wolves' game on Saturday, it has been announced that Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. will be out for at least two weeks. The injury occurred at the end of the third quarter of Iowa's win over the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
According to the team, Shannon's return-to-play timeline is two to four weeks. He is set to be re-evaluated by the medical staff two weeks following his injury. At that point, an update of his progress will be provided.
This is of course disappointing news for Timberwolves fans. Shannon had just received his most recent assignment to the G League, where he was on an absolute tear. In two games, Terrence had put up an average of 40 points on 61.9% shooting, five rebounds and 1.5 steals in 31.5 minutes per night.
Shannon will miss two to four weeks with foot sprain
That is what you want to see in the G League from your rookie players, and especially the older ones like Terrence. He was proving he was more than good enough to be an NBA player, and he was likely to receive a call-up back to Minnesota any day prior to his injury. But for now, he will go through the rehab process to get healed up and hopefully come back better than ever.
While this will be a growth opportunity for the rookie that will ultimately put him on the right path going forward, it is still not easy to see him have to sit on the sideline with an injury. These reps, even though they were in the G League, were valuable for Shannon in helping him find a rhythm and increase his confidence in his ability to play at a high level against other professionals.
Getting him playing time was a high priority, but that will now have to be put to the side as he shakes off this foot injury. With some time, ideally Shannon can be back on the floor and playing at a high level once again. He is clearly an NBA-caliber player, and there is still the hope that he could be a legitimate part of the Timberwolves' rotation in the future.