Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns cleared for full-contact action

Nolan O'Hara | Apr 9, 2024

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) dribbles against the Portland Trail Blazers in the third quarter at Target Center in Minneapolis on March 4, 2024. / Brad Rempel / USA TODAY Sports

Karl-Anthony Towns is nearing a return to the Timberwolves.

The All-Star big man has been sidelined since March 7 and has missed 16 games after tearing his meniscus in his left knee. But the Timberwolves announced on Tuesday that Towns has been cleared for full-contact, 5-on-5 basketball activities and is progressing to a return to play following his successful meniscus surgery back on March 12. It's a big step in the final stretch of the season.

"We're excited. Always happy and excited about having him back, whenever that is exactly," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Washington Wizards. "Amazing job through this part of his rehab up to this point in time. He looks incredible. I know he's excited to go, but we're just not quite there yet."

Finch said the hope is that Towns will return before the end of the regular season; Towns is ruled out for Tuesday night's game, but Minnesota has three more regular-season games remaining after that, the first coming Wednesday night in Denver. Then the Timberwolves close out the season at home with a game Friday against the Atlanta Hawks and a game Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.

Towns' likely return comes as the Timberwolves still have much to play for. While they've already clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Wolves are currently tied, although they hold the tiebreaker, with the Nuggets for the top spot in the Western Conference standings. While it's probably not likely Towns returns for Wednesday's game in Denver, the battle for the top seed in the conference could come down to the final games of the season.

Finch said reintergrating Towns into the lineup won't be without "its hiccups," but that more so has to do with the rotation, minutes and roles than anything on Towns' end. The Wolves have been successful in his absence and have implemented new concepts that Finch said Towns will have to get familiar with and take with him as he builds toward his return to the court.

"We've already talked about some of that stuff," Finch said. "He's actually seen it before. We've even talked about it, he was the first to kind of bring it up, some of the things that he's noticed, which has been great. That's one more reason we're excited and hopeful to have him out there soon is that we can get to work on that."

At the time of his injury, Towns was the Timberwolves' second-leading scorer at 22.1 points per game. He also averaged 10.9 rebounds per game and was voted to the All-Star Game for the fourth time in his career before he went down with the injury.

At the time he went down, it was believed Towns could potentially return in time for the postseason, if not just slightly before. It appears Towns is right on track to return for Minnesota this season.