Al Jefferson admitted to reporters on Sunday that he feared the worst after feeling his right knee pop following an awkward landing. On Monday, an MRI exam confirmed those fears: he will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. It's unfortunate when any player goes down, but it's especially heartbreaking to see this happen to a guy who's playing the best ball of his career -- he's one of three players in the league averaging at least 20 point and 10 boards a game this year, and he's put up an incredible 26.9 and 11.8 boards in his last 10 games.
There's not really any silver lining in a situation like this, but at least the Timberwolves aren't left completely barren in the middle: rookie Kevin Love has been averaging a double-double since the start of January despite moving into the starting lineup just three games ago. The Wolves better hope he doesn't hit the rookie wall because he'll be asked to carry as much of the load as he can shoulder.
That said, it's not like Love will be under too much pressure -- after a brief stretch of respectability in Janaury, the Wolves lost six of their last seven even with Jefferson going nuts. With a 17-33 record on the season, they're playing for lottery positioning as much as anything else.
Looking to the future, there's no real reason to think Jefferson can't come back stronger than ever next season -- a torn ACL used to be a career-altering injury, but these days it's more of an annoyance than anything else. If he does, the Wolves could surprise a lot of people next year, especially when you consider the team could have as many as three first-round picks in the 2009 draft, giving them plenty of ammo to stockpile talent or make a trade.
But this year? Fans ought to focus more on player development than the win-loss record because things could get ugly.
