The Minnesota Timberwolves have suffered too many injuries this season, and this team will have to figure out how to navigate these choppy waters. It’s unknown how long Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns will be out, but someone needs to step up in their absence.

Edwards would have been leading the league in minutes had he not gotten injured against the Chicago Bulls. This season he’s totaled 2,558 minutes, which is third in the NBA. He’s played in every game except for one, and he will likely miss a few games with the ankle sprain.

Towns has been out since late November, and it feels like he’s close to returning. He’s participating in the “stay in shape” league, which suggests it’s only a matter of games. He also posted this on Twitter:

With both players out of the lineup, the Timberwolves must find a way to make up for the 40-50 points those two players provide on a nightly basis.

Minnesota has a lot of intriguing players, but they don’t have that one guy who can fill it up. Naz Reid will go off for 20 points every once in a while, and it’s tough to expect that from him every night if he’s coming off the bench.

Rudy Gobert is good for 15 points on 70 percent from the field, and Mike Conley will give you 10-20.

The most likely guy the Timberwolves need to rely on is Jaden McDaniels. He’s slowly coming around on the offensive end, but it’s clear he needs to work on his development in that category. Defensively, he’s one of the best in the NBA, but if he wants to take that next step, it’s going to have to come on offense.

This season McDaniels is averaging 12.0 points per game, but he’s capable of averaging 20 points on a nightly basis. When Edwards was ruled out for the rest of the game in Chicago, McDaniels dropped a career-high 25 points.

He was the Timberwolves’ offense in overtime, and he carried most of the offensive load against the Toronto Raptors. This is his third season in the NBA, and the offense has been better this season. He’s posted 20 points or more seven times in his career, Five of which have come this season. It’s slowly coming around, but they need him to do this on a nightly basis.

The majority of his points will come from catch-and-shoot 3s. He’s improved drastically in that category, shooting 39.2 percent, compared to 31.7 last season. He’s also found a groove shooting the mid-range, and that will separate him from other scorers around the league.

The issue is he’s not bringing the ball up the floor like Edwards. It might not be pretty at first, but the Wolves should give him an extra five trips up the floor where he’s initiating the offense. That way it’s not an excessive amount, but it helps develop his offensive game while keeping the defense honest.

It’s going to be a collection of players that will need to step up, but McDaniels is going to have to shoulder the offensive burden. It’s a lot to put on his plate, but he will reap the benefits on his next contract if he can.