Anthony Edwards faces an extended absence because of an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, and the time he misses could prove costly for the Minnesota Timberwolves star.

ESPN insider Shams Charania explained how the time away could cost Edwards his awards eligibility and shrink the extension he could be eligible for this offseason.

Shams Charania Lays Out the Nine-Figure Supermax Math

Charania called Edwards’ injury news “the one that really rocked the league to some extent,” and the missed games are where the money comes in. A two-month absence would mean sitting out around 25 games. That would leave Edwards short of the standard 65-game threshold for MVP and All-NBA eligibility.

“He actually just put up 47 points on Monday night, and he’s been balling. He had 45 last week,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show” while discussing Edwards’ injury.

The 47 came in Minnesota’s 127-125 overtime loss at Cleveland, and the 45 came in a 131-106 opening-night win at Miami.

The ESPN insider spelled out what the injury means for Edwards.

“Now, you have a guy in Anthony Edwards who is going to be ineligible for the All-NBA team, for MVP, that’s going to cost him $115 million extra in salary based on the supermax extension he’s eligible for this offseason,” he added.

Charania then walked through the two deals: “I believe it’s four years, $304 million if he made either an All-NBA team or MVP… So he’s going to be eligible for a three-year, $189 million extension.”

Charania added a caveat, saying, “Now, he could wait and push that off till next summer or the summer of 2028, so there’s a lot of ramifications across all this.”

He also explained that Edwards has been battling this knee injury for some time.

“He’s been dealing with knee issues in that right knee since last year. They’ve had to get multiple images, every few weeks they’ll get more imaging to make sure everything is on point while he’s been laboring through it the last week or so, ever since the season started,” he said.

This season, Edwards kept popping up on Minnesota’s injury report with a right knee issue. Last season, the guard was limited to 61 games, mostly because of knee problems.

Edwards averaged 33.3 points over the first four games of the season, and Minnesota won three of them. The Timberwolves are now 3-2 and eighth in the Western Conference, and the focus is on getting Edwards healthy for the second half of the season.

The Wolves played without Edwards in Wednesday’s 119-114 home loss to the Golden State Warriors. The contract decision comes this offseason, when Edwards can sign the smaller extension or wait.