Minnesota Timberwolves PF Karl-Anthony Towns has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee and is out indefinitely, per Shams Charania. Towns was dealing with knee soreness and was expected to miss Thursday night’s game vs. the Indiana Pacers. Towns only played 21 minutes on Monday in the T-Wolves’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers. There’s no timeline for Towns’ return as Minnesota (43-19) continues to fight for the top seed in the Western Conference. Towns could miss anywhere from a month or two to the rest of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Let’s look at how this injury will impact fantasy basketball, the playoff picture, and more.
Karl-Anthony Towns injury
Fantasy basketball impact
The Timberwolves ran a pretty spread out rotation against the Blazers. Towns was still in the rotation for crunch time but Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson also played plenty off the bench in the front court. Jaden McDaniels started at forward alongside Towns and C Rudy Gobert. For DFS and season-long fantasy basketball, with Towns out, McDaniels, Reid and Anderson feel like the players who will benefit the most. McDaniels has the most scoring upside while Reid can help with boards and Slo Mo helps with multiple categories.
West Playoff Picture
The T-Wolves are tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder in first place in the West while the Denver Nuggets are a game back of those two. The Los Angeles Clippers are 2.5 games behind first place. So there’s a four-team race for first in the conference. The Timberwolves should still have a shot at securing the top seed, and shouldn’t be in danger of falling out of the top-4 in the West. Seeding also doesn’t really matter much (at least to NBA teams and coaches). It’s not worth standings watching if you’re the Timberwolves and trying to avoid the Phoenix Suns in the first round. However, there’s a good chance whoever is in the top-2 avoids the Suns.
Minnesota was +2800 to win the NBA title this season and +1200 to win the Western Conference on DraftKings Sportsbook. Those odds have fallen to +3500 to win the title and +1600 to win the West.
Neither bet seems appealing until we know KAT can return in time for the playoffs. If the timeline is around two months, Towns would be able to get back on the court in early May, which may be too late for the first round. If Minnesota advances, Towns could be back for a second-round series. Any expedited timeline and Towns would be good for the start of the playoffs. Right now, don’t go running to bet on the Timberwolves in these markets.
