Kat update (not the best update)

[kekgeek]

Kat out until mid to late March per Shams. I thought it would be sooner due to him working out again.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/timberwolves-karl-anthony-towns-likely-out-until-mid-to-late-march/amp/

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yeah. The way they've treated this, I didn't think we'd see him again.

Recently, I had a glimmer of hope though.

If the latest is that they're "hopeful" for the final 10 or 15 games... meh. Why even bother? Despite how good Towns is, he'd have been out for 50 games. You don't come back in top form from that. And it would change how the Wolves play during the most critical stretch of the season.

Let the "Towns is overrated!" narrative begin -- IF the Wolves make the playoffs without him.

[thedoper]

That is sad.

[FNG]

I guess I don't know why a 28-year-old from Chicago would have more knowledge about KAT's return than our local guys, but maybe this is accurate. I like that KAT is out of the walking boot and going through some workouts on the court, so let's assume Shams' call that KAT will play the last 10-15 games is correct, and take the optimistic view that he plays the last 15 games. That would mean he misses the next 7 games, 5 of which I have us losing anyway (I see us beating Washington and Charlotte, but then going on a 5-game losing streak including a brutal West Coast swing). The schedule gets easier for our last 15 games, so a KAT return at that time allows us to build some momentum going into the playoffs.

Again, we don't know that Shams is correct here...seems strange that KAT would be out another 3-4 weeks if he has been seen on the court working out. But even if he is, I still see the Wolves making the playoffs.

[TheFuture]

Obviously I do not have full details, but a grade 3 calf strain is bad. Something that can end this year for him.

He would be so good for this team right now.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I guess I don't know why a 28-year-old from Chicago would have more knowledge about KAT's return than our local guys, but maybe this is accurate. I like that KAT is out of the walking boot and going through some workouts on the court, so let's assume Shams' call that KAT will play the last 10-15 games is correct, and take the optimistic view that he plays the last 15 games. That would mean he misses the next 7 games, 5 of which I have us losing anyway (I see us beating Washington and Charlotte, but then going on a 5-game losing streak including a brutal West Coast swing). The schedule gets easier for our last 15 games, so a KAT return at that time allows us to build some momentum going into the playoffs.

Again, we don't know that Shams is correct here...seems strange that KAT would be out another 3-4 weeks if he has been seen on the court working out. But even if he is, I still see the Wolves making the playoffs.

Guys like Shams have different types of connections than the local guys. A guy like Jon Krawczynski is tight with Connelly and probably Finch. Meanwhile a guy like Shams is tight with some of the prominent agents in the league (see any of his reporting on Ben Simmons). As a result, he might offer more player-spin stuff.

[FNG]

Obviously I do not have full details, but a grade 3 calf strain is bad. Something that can end this year for him.

He would be so good for this team right now.

It is bad. But everything I read says the normal time to heal is 8-12 weeks if it doesn't require surgery. That would have put his return at somewhere between January 23 and Feb 20...I think that combined with reports that he was working out last week gave us some hope that he might be back soon after the break. But Shams has KAT on more like a 16-week recovery. I don't know if our medical staff deserves some blame here, but I read that he should have been in the walking boot the first 3-4 weeks, not 2 months into recovery,

[Monster]

I guess I don't know why a 28-year-old from Chicago would have more knowledge about KAT's return than our local guys, but maybe this is accurate. I like that KAT is out of the walking boot and going through some workouts on the court, so let's assume Shams' call that KAT will play the last 10-15 games is correct, and take the optimistic view that he plays the last 15 games. That would mean he misses the next 7 games, 5 of which I have us losing anyway (I see us beating Washington and Charlotte, but then going on a 5-game losing streak including a brutal West Coast swing). The schedule gets easier for our last 15 games, so a KAT return at that time allows us to build some momentum going into the playoffs.

Again, we don't know that Shams is correct here...seems strange that KAT would be out another 3-4 weeks if he has been seen on the court working out. But even if he is, I still see the Wolves making the playoffs.

Guys like Shams have different types of connections than the local guys. A guy like Jon Krawczynski is tight with Connelly and probably Finch. Meanwhile a guy like Shams is tight with some of the prominent agents in the league (see any of his reporting on Ben Simmons). As a result, he might offer more player-spin stuff.

I didn't realize Shams was still that young. He turns 29 on April Fools. His story is really pretty incredible.

[Carlos Danger]

Ugh. My initial reaction was to just shut him down. But then I thought about it more. Another scenario came to mind:

KAT fully recovers in time to get into a couple regular season games to close out the year. Then is available as a limited minutes bench guy for the playoffs. That wouldn't be horrible to have a three time All Star available to come off the bench would it?

[WildWolf2813]

He ain't coming back at all.