The Minnesota Timberwolves open a six-game road trip in Indiana on Thursday (and play on ESPN on Friday and Sunday night) without Karl-Anthony Towns, who will be out for an undetermined amount of time with a left meniscus injury. This is clearly bad news for Towns' fantasy investors, who have enjoyed a solid season with 22.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG and nearly 2,300 fantasy points, good for No. 30 in the league.
Then again, one person's despair is often another's opportunity, and we should recall the Timberwolves played most of the previous season without Towns, and they still made the playoffs. Kyle Anderson stepped into the starting lineup for 46 games and averaged 10.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 5.5 APG in that role, certainly worthy of fantasy attention in deeper formats. Anderson (rostered in 19% of ESPN standard leagues) has started four games this season and has seen his numbers considerably rise in that role. Those in roto formats will appreciate his assists.
Fantasy managers in points formats may be more interested in Naz Reid, but he likely retains his sixth-man role in lieu of the unfortunate Towns news. Still, Reid may see more minutes than typical. He averaged 16.5 PPG, 7 RPG and 1.4 SPG over 11 starts last season, mainly when Rudy Gobert was out. Reid (rostered in 38.9% of leagues) has continued to develop as a stretch big man, draining 1.9 3PG on 4.6 attempts, each figure considerably better than last season. Anderson, who is an underrated playmaker, may start, but Reid likely provides better fantasy numbers.
