Tim Connelly provides clarity, optimism with Anthony Edwards update

Tuesday evening’s news that Anthony Edwards is going to undergo knee surgery and miss multiple months is obviously a bummer for Timberwolves fans. It also raised plenty of questions about the specifics and timeline of the injury. The main question posed by many is why Edwards, who has been dealing with right knee issues dating back to last season, didn’t get surgery over the summer.

As insider Jon Krawczynski explained later on Tuesday, the Wolves felt good about Edwards’ knee coming into this season. It’s believed that he tweaked something in the season opener against Miami and tried to play through it before the decision was made to have surgery that will clean up the issue.

On Wednesday, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly spoke to Wolves media members to provide further clarity on the situation.

“He’s going to go through an arthroscopic procedure in the next 24 hours,” Connelly said. “We’re constantly updating his imaging. The imaging from yesterday showed an issue that we want to get addressed quickly. Our only concern is his long-term health.”

Asked if he could reveal any specifics on the nature of the injury, Connelly mostly declined but did note that it’s not related to Edwards’ meniscus, as some have speculated.

“It’s not a meniscus,” he said. “I don’t want to speak out of school; my liberal arts degree will screw me up. It’s just an arthroscopic cleanup.”

That feels like good news for Edwards and the Wolves, considering the significance of meniscus issues. Connelly also confirmed that things have changed with Edwards’ knee since the offseason. In other words, while this could be related to his previous right knee ailments, it’s not as simple as saying he should’ve gotten the surgery in the offseason.

“No, the imaging has changed,” Connelly said. “We’ve had a bunch of imaging since the summer, and it changed as of yesterday.”

Connelly didn’t want to provide a timeline for Edwards’ return, but did say the Wolves will give an update after the procedure. He noted that Edwards — who is coming off a 47-point game on Monday — wants to play on Wednesday night against the Warriors, but this decision was made with the best interest of his long-term health in mind.

“We want to make sure we’re putting him in the best position to be the best version (of himself) he can be for a long time,” Connelly said.

“We’re pretty confident that he’ll get out there when he’s right,” he added. “We don’t know when it’s gonna be, but we don’t think it’s gonna be something that’s gonna cost him the season.”

The part of Connelly’s comments that should give Wolves fans the most optimism is that he believes Edwards is going to be back to 100 percent after his recovery from this procedure. There’s no concern that this will be an issue that lingers into the future. It’s simply something they wanted to clean up so their superstar can get back to full health and explosiveness.

“I think we have the best medical staff in the league,” Connelly said. “We’re fortunate enough to be under the Mayo (Clinic) umbrella. The best thing about what he’s gonna go under is (his knee will) be as good as new. It’s not something we’re concerned with long-term.”