Losing your best player is not ideal at the best of times, but especially when a restructured team is building momentum together. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves learned they would be without Anthony Edwards until around the turn of the calendar shortly after suffering their first defeat of the campaign, 127-125 (OT) to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 26. 

The loss pumped the brakes on the Wolves' 3-0 start to the year, with Edwards forced to undergo an arthroscopic debridement procedure due to lingering right knee discomfort — despite having just dropped 47 points on the Cavs. 

The Timberwolves have since lost two of their last three games. 

The defeats, 119-114 to Golden State and 121-111 to the San Antonio Spurs, were close — an overall positive sign. Newcomer Jonathan Kuminga believes it's cause for optimism because of the type of characters Minnesota has in its locker room. 

"We have a group of guys that really want it," he said after the Spurs game. "We are not quitters, and we aren't going to let up... [We] really want to win, and we're going to fight until the wheels fall [off]."

Now sitting at 4-3, Kuminga is going to have to be one of the players who shifts into another gear if the Wolves are to steady the ship. 

The Timberwolves signed the 24-year-old to a two-year, $12.4 million prove-it deal this offseason, and in some ways, this is now the perfect opportunity for the former No. 7 overall Draft pick (2021) to show what he can do. 

Minnesota has a lot of talent. The roster is deep, but someone needs to inherit that two-way grit and leadership that Edwards brings night in and night out. Kuminga doesn't need to score close to 40 points a night like Edwards tends to do, but he must shoulder significantly more weight. 

He took a step in the right direction in the Wolves' loss to the Spurs on Saturday, pouring in 19 points in a team-high 40 minutes. Kuminga added six rebounds, three assists, and a block. 

That was the biggest indication yet from head coach Chris Finch that Kuminga has his trust. Now it's about continuing to pay it off. 

There's a pretty good chance that the Timberwolves are exactly what Kuminga's career has been needing.

They are a talented, young team that is starving for success and desperate to get over the Western Conference Finals hump, having crashed out of the playoffs there in two of the last three seasons. 

Kuminga is not only motivated to perform as a way of securing a lucrative long-term contract, but he also wants to erase the unwanted reputation that he can't contribute to a winning team. At least that's what it often felt like the Warriors thought of him. 

In his sixth season, Kuminga can write a new chapter in his career if he helps the Timberwolves stay in the fight for a top postseason seed without Edwards. 

He is averaging over 14 points per game since Edwards went down and is shooting 43.3 percent from three on the year. 

Coincidentally, he only scored five points in the Wolves' 127-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. However, the way he bounced back in the Spurs game — despite the defeat — showed exactly what lies in the player the Timberwolves think so highly of. 

Moving forward, consistency is the key.