Fantasy Basketball Impact of the Anthony Edwards Knee Injury

Injuries are a major part of the NBA today, and another star is now out for a bit of time.

Let's discuss the fantasy basketball and real-world implications of the injury to Minnesota's Anthony Edwards.

Fantasy basketball injury news can be found all season on FantasySP.

The Injury and Some Stats

Edwards has right knee soreness and that ailment will keep him out. He's expected to be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks.

The 24-year-old is having his best season yet, averaging 29.5 points over 58 contests. Edwards is also averaging 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game over 35.5 minutes.

He is shooting 49.2% overall, which is the best mark of his career. Edwards is 40.2% from 3-point land, also a career-high mark.

He's scored in double figures in all but one game this season. Edwards has been over 20 points in all but nine games. He has 32 games over 30 points, and 10 contests with over 40 points.

Edwards has five or more boards in 33 contests, reaching double-digit boards twice so far. It should be no surprise that he has two double-doubles.

Edwards has five or more assists in 20 contests, but no games over 10 assists. He has a steal in all but 15 games and a block in all but 22 contests.

In other words, Edwards is a stud, both in real life and in fantasy basketball. His absence will be a big one, hence why he gets his own story.

Outlook for Edwards

There's only a couple weeks remaining this regular season, so this injury comes at a terrible time for fantasy owners. It's possible this injury lingers and he doesn't come back in time to help you.

Not having Edwards could definitely be something that prevents you from winning a fantasy playoff matchup. Again, it's a devastating blow to lose him for any stretch of time, but especially this one.

Hopefully you have an IR spot to put him in, because otherwise you might need to drop Edwards. Of course, we are all hoping that he returns in a week or so, but if this lingers, you might need to drop Edwards to remain competitive.

In deeper leagues, I'd probably hold Edwards regardless of how long he's out. He's too valuable to let go, because someone else is probably going to add and stash him (if there's no IR spots in your league).

In standard leagues, it all comes down to your roster when determining whether or not to move on from Edwards. If you need his roster spot to be a healthy player, then you might be best served moving on from him. Your replacement for Edwards likely won't be nearly as good as he was, but at least it's something.

Keep tabs on Edwards and be ready to move off him if he is out longer than a week or so, and others will need to be ready to add him if he becomes available in their leagues.

Outlook for the Timberwolves

Edwards was the best fantasy player (and real-world player) for the Timberwolves, so there's a ton of production that needs to be accounted for now.

Donte DiVincenzo is the next-most rostered guard, sitting at about 92% right now. Ayo Dosunmu is sitting at 56% owned, while Bones Hyland is at 5%.

Julius Randle is owned in all fantasy leagues, and Jaden McDaniels is a forward who is available in less than 10% of leagues.

Rudy Gobert is rostered in all fantasy leagues as well. Naz Reid is available in less than 10% of leagues.

In other words, there's not many Timberwolves who you could add while Edwards is out. Most of them are already rostered in most leagues.

Dosunmu is the only Minnesota player on the waiver wire list today. We covered him in today's waiver wire article, so you can read a bit more about him there.

He's been trending up, and now should be producing even more since he'll be covering some of Edwards' minutes. Give Dosunmu consideration in standard leagues, and definitely scoop him up in deeper leagues.

Any of the Timberwolves near 100% (so Reid, DiVincenzo and McDaniels) are guys who should get to 100% for the time being. They will be asked to take on more, so their fantasy values should rise. If they are over 90% now, then with more production, they are worth rostering/utilizing in all fantasy leagues.

Hyland, Mike Conley and Terrence Shannon Jr. are some guards who could pick up some slack at guard spots, where Edwards works. Hyland, Conley and Shannon will be deep-league assets until Edwards returns, but unless other Timberwolves are out, they won't reach standard leagues.

Expect Randle to power the Timberwolves, with DiVincenzo, McDaniels and Gobert also picking things up a bit. Reid, Kyle Anderson and some of the other guards will have to help out too.

Keep an eye on the team's box scores over the next few games to see who might be worth adding, or who maybe was expected to produce more but isn't, which makes them droppable.

Minnesota is sixth in the Western Conference and just two games ahead of Phoenix for the last non-play-in postseason spot. It will be difficult to hold that spot with Edwards out, but if he only misses a week, there will be time to grab that No. 6 slot back before the end of the regular season.

If Edwards is out two weeks, or longer, the Timberwolves could be in some trouble, and fantasy owners will also be hurting.