ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday afternoon that Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns will miss four-to-six weeks with a right calf strain.

You can now breathe a sigh of relief Timberwolves fans. Initially, it looked a lot worse, but that’s why we don’t jump to conclusions. Minnesota can expect their All-NBA forward/center in January.

How does KAT’s injury affect the Timberwolves?

Let’s get this out of the way now; the Timberwolves are not better without Towns. Chris Hine of the Star Tribune tweeted earlier that Minnesota is 17-47 when Towns has missed time. Granted, some of those rosters were not good, but the point still stands.

Minnesota was struggling with their transition defense and guarding shooters on the perimeter. Towns and Rudy Gobert were not always in the right place, and that resulted in a lot of wide-open buckets.

Chris Finch can now run a drop defensive scheme with KAT out of the lineup. This season Minnesota has run multiple coverages, and that’s caused confusion. Gobert is elite on defense, and that was evident in Utah. I’m not saying the Timberwolves will magically have a Utah Esque defense, but it should improve over the next several weeks.

It’s likely the Timberwolves start Kyle Anderson in Karl-Anthony Towns’ place. Anderson has played well this season, especially in minutes alongside Gobert.

Anderson improves the Timberwolves’ competency and moves the ball well. He’s also shot the ball better than expected, which will improve the spacing when Gobert is on the floor. Naz Reid will get plenty of run, and that’s usually been good for Minnesota when he has played.

We may also see Finch get creative with lineups. Could that mean minutes for Luka Garza and Josh Minott? I think it does.

Garza and Minott could be the energizers this team needs. Both players have played really well in Iowa, and it’ll be interesting to see what they could do against NBA competition.

I’d also guess we see a lot of pick and rolls between D’Angelo Russell and Gobert. Plus, Anthony Edwards should fully take over the offensive duties with KAT out of the lineup.

The Timberwolves have options, and Towns will hopefully only miss four-to-six weeks. While the news is unfortunate, it could have been a lot worse.

This allows Gobert to settle in, and hopefully, that brings a top-10 defense. They can also utilize their young depth and give minutes to Garza and Minott. It’s going to be tricky, but the Timberwolves can still have success.