A knee scope shouldn't cost Anthony Edwards his shot at a $304 million deal

Anthony Edwards is getting his right knee scoped Thursday, and under the NBA's rules that's probably going to cost him his shot at a $304 million contract. I think that's backwards. Keep the 65-game rule for the trophies if you like it. It has no business deciding who gets to be paid like a franchise player.

The arithmetic is short. Shams Charania reported Tuesday night that Edwards could miss up to two months. The Associated Press figures that's around 25 games, which carries him to Minnesota's Christmas game against Oklahoma City and leaves him short of the 65 a player needs to be eligible for MVP or All-NBA. ESPN says either honor would have made him eligible next summer for a four-year, $304 million supermax extension. The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski then reported the belief is it'll be more than two months, so I wouldn't lean too hard on "up to."

And this is the second year in a row. The AP says Edwards was limited to 61 games last season, mostly because of knee trouble. That was four games short. This year, if the AP's math holds, the most he can play is somewhere around 57. The most valuable contract the league offers slips away both times over the same body part.

I'll give the rule its due, because the idea behind it was fair. People paid real money for tickets and got a healthy star in a hoodie on the bench. The league wanted its awards to go to guys who showed up, and the players signed the labor deal that put the number in writing. If the rule only decided who got a plaque, I wouldn't be writing this.

But look at what Edwards actually did Monday. He was questionable on the second night of a back-to-back. He was cleared after warmups, played a season-high 41 minutes and scored 47 in an overtime loss at Cleveland, his second 45-point game in four. Chris Finch had called the knee a "daily situation" before that game. Whatever you want to call that night, it isn't load management. A rule built to stop stars from sitting just landed hardest on a star who played through it until it needed fixing.

That's my real problem. When you hang that much money on a game count, you're putting a price tag on the timing of surgery. I'm not accusing anybody in Minnesota of anything. The procedure is set for Thursday, three days after Cleveland, which is exactly what you'd want. I'm saying the rule asks every player in his spot a question nobody should have to answer with a calculator.

His manager, Justin Holland, told ESPN, "It's not about individual accolades, All-NBAs, or anything like that." That's the right thing to say on a Tuesday, and I believe the part about wanting a ring. It's still an awful lot of money to wave off on the way to the operating room.

I've been around long enough to watch the league fix rules that seemed like a good idea in the meeting. This one's easy. Leave 65 games on the MVP ballot and the All-NBA ballot. Take it out of contract eligibility, or at least stop counting games missed after a procedure the team announces. The next time the league and the union sit down, somebody should bring the box score from Cleveland and ask which part of that night they meant to punish.

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