Northwest Notes: Towns, Conley, T-Wolves, Hernangomez

Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns continues to recover from the novel coronavirus. Minnesota head coach Ryan Saunders has noted that Towns has made some strides recently as he works his way back, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link).

“He’s really been able to push himself,” Saunders said of the Timberwolves’ leading scorer. “Our medical group has been able to try to simulate certain stints during a game, the stopping and going, what that might feel like with his lungs.” Krawczynski adds in a separate tweet that Saunders says Minnesota’s medical team needs to examine the way Towns’s lungs respond to “high-intensity work.”

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

  • The Jazz can take cold comfort in the fact that, while star point guard Mike Conley is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury, the injury is not considered as severe as a similar hamstring injury he suffered last season, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets.
  • The Timberwolves‘ youngest players have surprisingly emerged as some of Minnesota’s best, as Michael Rand of The Star Tribune details. Jordan McLaughlin, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Nowell, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, and Jarred Vanderbilt have impressed with their play of late.
  • After missing nearly three weeks of action due to COVID-19, Timberwolves power forward Juan Hernangomez is now striving to break back into Minnesota’s rotation, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. His younger teammates Vanderbilt and McDaniels have supplanted him in the power forward rotation for now, though Hernangomez enjoyed a productive nine-minute stint last night. “I’m probably the MVP of waiting for my chance,” Hernangomez said. “I’m happy for the young guys to develop. If I get my chance, I’m going to try to do my best.”
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