LaMelo Ball is a Minnesota Timberwolf

A four-team blockbuster is fun! (Well, it was reported as 2 different deals but they all come together to form one big trade because one isn’t possible without the other.) This deal saw Timberwolves get LaMelo Ball, Josh Green and the 33rd pick, Isaiah Evans, the Hornets got Naz Ried, the Timberwolves 2033 first round pick unprotected, 3 pick swaps (2029, 2030 and 2032) and 3 future 2nd round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), the Nets got Julius Randle and the 28th pick, Joshua Jefferson and the Bulls got Nic Claxton. The big part of this sends LaMelo to Minnesota in a way that really shakes up their team as they try to catch up to Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

LaMelo Ball is a risky play for the Wolves. He is a really good player but there hasn’t been a ton of winning basketball played throughout his career. However, he committed to winning last season as the Hornets became one of the most fun teams to watch in the league. I think teaming up with Anthony Edwars will continue that trend for Ball. Ball becomes the number 2 option that the Wolves have become desperate for since trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks. Julius Randle had his moments, especially in the 2025 playoffs, but he was a mess this past year. Ball opens up the Wolves offense in a ton of ways. An elite passer and three point shooter, he instantly makes it way more difficult to double team Edwards because he can use LaMelo as a release point. Having multiple ball-handlers on the floor is a good thing, which is also why I still don’t mind the Ayo Dosunmu deal (5yrs/$112 million), even paired with this one. There have been times when watching the Wolves where we have been wondering, how are they going to generate a basket at this moment. Ball should help solve that problem, he is one of the best offensive players in the league. Although we have never seen Ball in the playoffs, I do think he will open up their offense big time and give Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert way better looks.

This makes the Randle deal make a lot more sense. Salary dumping Julius Randle was a weird move that left Minnesota thin in the secondary scoring area behind Ant. LaMelo Ball is a significant upgrade to Randle. They are smaller, losing 2 of your 3 best big guys hurts, and Reid became really important to their team over the past few seasons. However, you have to be able to score the ball and neither of the guys they traded are great defensive players. Ball isn’t good on that end but Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Dosunmu are very good to elite defenders and Edwards is no slouch so they should be able to cover up for him. I understand the concerns, he has injury issues, his play can be erratic, he is a ball dominant player along with others. However, how many times have we watched the Wolves struggle to generate offense in the playoffs? Too many. They need another offensive engine like this to help alleviate the pressure off of Anthony Edwards and Ball is that. I just think at this price, it is a good deal for Minnesota to make.

I understand where the Hornets are coming from on this one. I am also a LaMelo Ball skeptic, though this past season has turned me into a bit of a believer. It was just 8 months ago when we thought Ball was in the same category as Trae Young and Ja Morant in terms of value. Where dumping them could be a challenge. He changed that with his play at the end of the season as the Hornets turned into one of the best stories in the league. However, the Hornets are run by different management, a different coach and even different ownership than the one that drafted Ball and those people clearly don’t like the player. You can see why they’d want to sell high but this isn’t selling high. Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first, 3 future second rounders and 3 future pick swaps. Let’s start with the swaps. I think pick swaps have become overrated. For every Celtics jump from 27 to 1 in 2017, there are how many swaps that don’t convey? (A lot, the answer is a lot.) The Hornets got swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030 and these are unlikely to swap. Minnesota is probably going to be better than the Hornets in 2028, the Jazz own the Timberwolves pick if it is 6-30 so Minnesota probably won’t have a pick to swap and the Wolves already owe a swap to the Spurs in 2030 and I don’t think the Hornets are going to be better than the Spurs any time soon. They likely aren’t seeing any of those swaps. Now it’s just Reid, the future first and 3 seconds. Is that selling high? LaMelo Ball was the engine that led the Hornets dominant offense, he can turn your team into an elite offense. What does the Hornets offense look like without him? They re-signed Coby White to a new 3-year, $74 million deal to have him be their point guard. White isn’t as good at creating looks for others as Ball is. Naz Reid is a good player in an area of need for the Hornets but isn’t a ceiling raiser and he isn’t on some great contract. I just don’t think this was selling high by the Hornets.

What this does say about the Hornets, is that the front office does not believe that their turn around last year was real. The Eastern Conference is likely going to be better next season. Indiana should be back, Orlando should be better, Miami got Giannis and you still have Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, New York and even Atlanta who are all better than the Hornets are right now. That is 8 teams and I didn’t mention the Raptors or 76ers. They clearly didn’t buy into their chances like many others did. As I mentioned, it was just 8 months ago we all thought they were going to dump Ball for next-to-nothing and selling high is good process. While they got more than they would have a few months ago, this return would not have been enough for me to make this trade.

The Bulls and Nets were also in this deal. For Chicago it takes them out of offering Jalen Duren or Walker Kessler max-level offer sheets, which is probably for the best, they don’t need to be paying those guys that kind of money. Nic Claxton is a fine player, it isn’t great that neither Brooklyn or Minnesota had any interest in having him on their team and he shot 58% inside the arc this season, which is bad for a big man. However, he is better than any other center the Bulls have and is a good interior defender. Julius Randle is a fine play for the Nets. It sucks for him as a former Knick who played a huge part in bringing them back to relevance that he is now in Brooklyn after New York won the title. His scoring will help the Nets, he averaged 21.7 points per game this season and I think that number will jump. They’ll be awful but he will have big scoring games and will probably get All-Star buzz next season. The Nets also moved up 5 spots in the draft with this deal so that is good.