Saturday Slam: The loss of Zach LaVine is brutal for the Minnesota Timberwolves

Earlier today, the Minnesota Timberwolves confirmed that their explosive young point guard Zach LaVine would miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL in his left knee. Below is the official team release.

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) taken this morning at Mayo Clinic by Team Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Diane Dahm revealed that Wolves guard Zach LaVine has a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in his left knee. LaVine, who will have surgery at a to-be-determined date, will miss the remainder of the season. Further updates as to LaVine’s progress will be issued when more information becomes available.The injury occurred during last night’s 116-108 loss to the Detroit Pistons.In 47 games this season, LaVine averaged 18.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 37.2 minutes per game. In his third NBA season, LaVine holds career averages of 13.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 206 games.

The loss of Zach LaVine obviously really hurts this young Wolves team. At 19-32, they are still very much alive for the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoffs, just 3.5 games back of the 22-28 Denver Nuggets, who are currently clinging to the 8th seed like grim death. With the loss of LaVine, it's going to be really tough for this young Wolves team to make up for his quality production. LaVine was in the middle of having a breakout season, making it all the more sad that he had to go down. The good news of course is that with proper rehab and surgery, LaVine can come back even stronger thanks to the quality medical care that he'll receive at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

                                         (Credit: YouTube. Click here for video). 
           
In terms of who will need to step up, it's obvious that Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, who are both averaging north of 20 points per game, will need to carry even more of the load.  In addition to them, the rest of the Wolves backcourt will need to do all they can to make up for Zach LaVine's production.

The guy in the backcourt who can be expected to step up the most is Shabazz Muhammad, who is averaging 9.0 points per game on 46.6% shooting from the field, 45.8% shooting from three-point range, and 80.2% shooting from the free throw line. During the past 10 games, Muhammad has notched six games with 15+ points, so with Zach LaVine now out for the season, it can be expected for him to continue to put up similar numbers. Ricky Rubio being more of a facilitator can't really be relied on to score more, but he will have to undertake a larger chunk of the point guard duties.

The one guy who is sort of a wild card in all of this is rookie point guard Kris Dunn, who is currently nursing a sore right hand. Dunn was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft but has so far not really lived up to the hype. LaVine's absence should free up a lot more minutes for him once he returns to the court, giving him a chance to flourish and showcase his skills. If there's any benefit of Zach LaVine going down, it is that his absence gives Kris Dunn more minutes and opportunities for growth. Dunn has to make the most of these extra minutes and prove to the Minnesota franchise that he was worth the fifth overall pick.

There's no question that the loss of Zach LaVine is a major disappointment, but the Timberwolves are still in big picture mode, so as long as he is able to make a full recovery, this shouldn't be too big of a set back. If anything, it will give other guys an opportunity to step up and grow, so maybe in a way this will benefit the team for the long term. Of course, my thoughts and prayers are with Zach LaVine. I've gotten to know a lot of these top basketball players through my work with GoldenBearReport.com of the Rivals Network, so I have nothing but mad respect for all the work that they put in. I hope LaVine comes back stronger than before and helps the Minnesota Timberwolves continue to grow into one of the most elite and dangerous teams in the NBA.

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