Karl-Anthony Towns Out 2 More Weeks, Wolves Not Pursuing Surgery on Wrist Injury

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns will avoid surgery on his fractured left wrist for the time being while the team continues to pursue non-operative strategies to help the big man heal. 

The Timberwolves announced Friday they will continue monitoring Towns and plan to re-evaluate him in two weeks before deciding on next steps.

Towns, 24, is averaging 26.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game for the 19-42 Wolves, who have struggled following a promising 7-4 start.

Injuries have kept the fifth-year big man off the court multiple times this season. He missed 15 games from Dec. 18 through Jan. 15, primarily due to a knee sprain. He also missed the tail end of that stretch with an illness.

He returned to the team on Jan. 17 but was sidelined beginning on Feb. 10 with a left wrist fracture. 

The Wolves have a few big men to replace Towns at the five, including Naz Reid and James Johnson. Juancho Hernangomez should help fill out the frontcourt rotation at the power forward spot.

Reid, a rookie out of LSU, is averaging 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. The 6'9", 264-pound center is the biggest body the Wolves can play down low outside Towns.

The 6'7", 240-pound Johnson is capable of filling in at the five as an undersized but tough option. He's posting 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game since the Miami Heat traded him in a three-team deal.

At 6'9", Hernangomez can help stretch the floor from the power forward spot. He is averaging 5.8 points per game and shooting 34.5 percent from three-point range.

Those three are capable of giving Minnesota quality minutes, but no one can replace Towns' near-automatic 25-point, 10-rebound production on a nightly basis. Although Minnesota has fallen on hard times, the team is clearly better with him in the lineup and could use him back as soon as possible to attempt to finish the year strong.