Anthony Edwards Needs Knee Surgery and Could Miss Up to Two Months, a Night After Scoring 47

By The Arena Staff

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 28, 2026 — On Monday night in Cleveland, Anthony Edwards played a season-high 41 minutes on a sore right knee and scored 47 points. On Tuesday, word came that the knee needs surgery.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on the knee Thursday and could be sidelined for up to two months, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania. The Associated Press, citing a person with knowledge of the decision, reported that Edwards will miss several weeks and that a more precise timetable will be known after the operation. The Minnesota Star Tribune confirmed the plan through team sources and reported that the Wolves were expected to release more details Wednesday.

It lands four games into a season that had started about as well as Minnesota could have hoped. The Wolves won their first three before Monday's 127-125 overtime loss to the Cavaliers, and Edwards had been carrying them. The 47 points came on 19-of-34 shooting, and ESPN noted it was his second 45-point game of the season, making him the fourth player in NBA history with multiple 45-point games in his team's first four games.

The knee had been a quiet concern for days. Edwards started grabbing it during Sunday's home opener against Toronto, ESPN reported, and he was listed as questionable before he went off in Cleveland. Coach Chris Finch called it a "daily situation" at the time and said he wasn't worried about it being a long-term problem. The Star Tribune reported the knee was first aggravated in the season opener in Miami.

This is familiar ground. Edwards dealt with runner's knee in the same leg last season and missed 21 games in all, the most of his career, according to ESPN. The Wolves went 12-9 without him, and the Star Tribune reported there is confidence inside the organization that the roster has enough depth to keep winning, with hopes of having him back sometime in December.

There's money tied up in the calendar, too. Missing two months would leave Edwards short of the NBA's 65-game minimum for MVP and All-NBA honors, ESPN reported, and either would have made him eligible for a four-year, $304 million supermax extension next summer. His manager, Justin Holland, waved that off. "It's not about individual accolades, All-NBAs, or anything like that," Holland told ESPN. "It's a single focus -- winning a championship."

For now, the work shifts to LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and the rest of a new-look roster. Minnesota's first test without its leading scorer comes Wednesday night at home against Golden State.

Sources: ESPN, AP and the Minnesota Star Tribune.