Timberwolves reserve wing Jarrett Culver will undergo arthroscopic surgery on May 7 to address “debridement of scar tissue and loose body” in his right ankle and will be sidelined for the rest of the 2020/21 NBA season, per a team press release.
In his second pro season, the 6’6″ shooting guard out of Texas Tech saw a reduced on-court role with Minnesota, averaging 5.3 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 14.7 MPG across 34 games, all significant decreases from his rookie season numbers. The ankle issue has already cost Culver 17 games this year.
According to Chris Hine of the Star Tribune, the Timberwolves still see the 22-year-old former lottery selection as a promising roster element, despite his stagnation in output this season.
“He’s still a big part of our future as we see it,” head coach Chris Finch said. “So we want to be sure that we give him the best chance to have the proper preparation going into next year, and it’s important.”
In other Timberwolves injury news, the man who supplanted Culver as the club’s starting two guard, Malik Beasley, has returned to on-court workouts this week as he continues to recover from a left hamstring injury.
Beasley has had a career year with the Timberwolves, averaging 19.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.4 APG over 32.8 MPG, all career bests over a full season. Beasley averaged similar numbers in the 14 games he played for Minnesota after being acquired in a 2020 deadline deal with the Nuggets. Finch indicated that he was hopeful Beasley could suit up for a few of the lottery-bound Timberwolves’ final games this season.
“He wants to play,” Finch said. “I think, psychologically, he wants to go into the offseason knowing that he’s in game-ready shape.”
Why didn’t Wolves trade Culver one year ago?
Why didn’t Kings trade Bagley one year ago?
GMs don’t care about when is the best time to trade them?
Good player 90, 50, 40
Culver 41, 25, 60
What do those numbers mean..?
Why do you base large bilateral decisions on single unilateral factors?
If 90/50/40 is a “good player” then there have only been a tiny handful of good players in the entire history of the NBA.
You clearly have no idea about actual player value. 90/50/40 has been done by what, about 7 players in history? Culver has potential, but Minnesota is not going exactly the place that potential gets reached.
Culver
5 points per game
Free throw 60%
FG 41%
3pt 25%
Culver is a good player, just needs out of the wasteland that is Minn
Devastating…
Timberpuppies waste yet another first round choice on a “Tin Man”. (Remember Justin Patton)