What's the Latest on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels' Injuries?

In more ways than one, the Minnesota Timberwolves are limping towards the finish line of the regular season. They're just 6-9 in their last 15 games and have lost four of their last five. More significantly, a team that was quite healthy all season is now dealing with some major injury concerns that may or may not linger into the start of the playoffs.

Anthony Edwards' knee injury looms over everything right now. The only way the Wolves have a chance at making another postseason run is if Edwards is in the lineup and at least close to being healthy enough to operate at the peak of his abilities.

It looked encouraging when Edwards returned from a six-game absence and played well in a win over the Mavericks in the final game of March. He then sat out last Thursday's game against the Pistons, although that was due to severe flu-like symptoms, according to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski. But Edwards didn't have much juice in Friday's game in Philadelphia, in which he scored just 8 points on 3-of-15 shooting. He then sat out Sunday's game against the Hornets as he continues to deal with the knee issue.

Edwards' injury is patellofemoral pain syndrome, commonly referred to as "runner's knee." Concerningly, that's the condition that just caused Warriors star Steph Curry to miss 27 games after initially thinking he'd only be out for a week or two. There's no structural damage to the knee, but there can be immense pain around the kneecap while playing — and a recovery process that isn't exactly linear.

Anthony Edwards | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The optimistic view is that Edwards is 14 years younger than Curry and has a history of bouncing back from injuries. But as of right now, it's unclear how healthy he'll be when the playoffs begin. It'll be interesting to see how many of the Wolves' final four regular season games — if any — he plays in this week. He's been ruled out for Tuesday's game against the Pacers.

"This is all just kind of part of injury management when you’re coming off an injury such as his," head coach Chris Finch said, via Krawczynski. "He remains day to day. This is kind of the day to day. I don’t think there’s any great concern for anything longer term. But we’re still in the uncertain phase."

Meanwhile, the Wolves have gone 1-4 since Jaden McDaniels exited their thrilling comeback over the Rockets late in regulation. He's officially listed as week to week with patella tendinopathy in his left knee, though Krawczynski has reported that it's a bone bruise. There's plenty of uncertainty there as well, even if it's good that McDaniels travelled with the team on its recent three-game road trip. He's not playing on Tuesday in Indianapolis.

An argument can be made that McDaniels is the Wolves' second-most important player. They don't stand much of a chance in the playoffs without him, either.

And then there's Naz Reid, who has seemingly been bothered quite a bit by a lingering shoulder injury. He's made just 17 of his last 72 three-point attempts (23.6 percent) since the final game of February. Before that, he was shooting 39 percent from deep on just over six attempts a night. The Wolves need Reid to find his rhythm, which could be difficult if the shoulder is hindering him.

Amidst these injury issues, the Timberwolves' offense has fallen apart. Over their last eight games, they have easily the worst offensive rating in the NBA at 104.1 points per 100 possessions. The good news is that they have the No. 2 defense in the league in that span.

If the Wolves can get their guys healthy and flip a switch when the postseason begins, they'll have the pieces to make a run, even if they're staring down a remarkably daunting Nuggets-Spurs-Thunder path through the West. But right now, with four games left in the regular season, injuries and poor shooting have sullied the vibes in Minnesota.

"Feels like we're a million miles away from the team that we can be and that we are," Finch said on Sunday night. "We gotta get that back with our connectedness and our spirit."