Report: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jordan McLaughlin not close to returning

It was Nov. 28 when Karl-Anthony Towns fell to the court and grabbed his calf in Washington, D.C. The Timberwolves big man suffered a right calf strain, and while he avoided a more serious injury – like a torn Achilles – there are no indications that he's close to returning. 

The same goes for Jordan McLaughlin, arguably the truest point guard on the roster who is also fighting back from a calf injury. He first injured his calf Nov. 21 against Miami and missed the next five games, only to return and re-injure his calf three games later. He hasn't played since exiting the Dec. 9 game in Utah. 

In Jon Krawczynski's column at The Athletic about Anthony Edwards becoming the alpha of the Timberwolves, the longtime beat writer snuck in injury updates for Towns and McLaughlin. 

"Karl-Anthony Towns has been out for more than a month and is still weeks away from returning from a calf injury," he wrote, later adding: "Towns isn’t coming back anytime soon. McLaughlin, the other ballhandler, doesn’t figure to be playing for weeks yet either."

When Towns was injured Nov. 28 the hope was that he would be able to return by mid-January. If he's "still weeks away," his return won't be until late January, perhaps February. 

Calf injuries have wrecked Minnesota athletes in recent months. The Vikings just lost right tackle Brian O'Neill for the season with a calf muscle injury suffered at Lambeau Field on Sunday. And that comes on the heels of Vikings defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson missing more than a month with a calf injury earlier this season.