MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 22: Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and LaMelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets talk in the third quarter at Target Center on January 22, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Hornets won 128-125. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
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On Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said “NBA vultures” were circling around the Minnesota Timberwolves in anticipation of Anthony Edwards “potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market.”
Two days later, the Timberwolves did their best to shoo those vultures off for the time being by acquiring LaMelo Ball in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets.
Ball was one of only four players to average at least 20 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three made three-pointers per game last season, joining Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden. He’s a prolific three-point shooter and a passing wizard, although he also tends to be a space cadet on defense.
In short, this is a high-risk, high-reward gamble for the Wolves that could either vault them back into title contention or lay the seeds for Edwards’ eventual departure from Minnesota.
Why The Wolves Traded For LaMelo
The Wolves have been frantically trying to add a co-star for Edwards in recent years, although they fell short in their pursuit of Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. In Ball, they found someone who’s far more aligned with Edwards in terms of developmental timeline.
The 24-year-old Ball entered the NBA the same year as Edwards and is only 17 days younger than him. If this partnership blossoms, they could feasibly be teammates for the next half-decade or longer. And they should augment one another’s strengths, too.
Edwards is plenty able to create offense for himself in isolation, but he’s also a deadly catch-and-shoot threat as well. This past season, he knocked down 49.6% of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts compared to only 35.3% of his pull-ups. With Ball in the fold, Edwards should have the freedom to operate without the ball far more frequently, which can allow the Timberwolves to tap into him as a spot-up and cutting threat.
Having a backcourt partner who can help shoulder the offensive load should also allow Edwards to preserve some energy for defense. He’s slipped on that end of the floor in recent years, but he was a well-above-average defender during his second, third and fourth seasons in the league.
Ball has largely been a net negative on defense in Charlotte, but the presence of Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert in Minnesota could help cover that up. Gobert is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, while McDaniels has been one of the NBA’s best defensive forwards for the past few seasons.
In today’s NBA, teams need multiple legitimate ball-handlers. The Wolves had that with Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo this past season, but DiVincenzo tore his Achilles during the first round of this year’s playoffs and figures to miss most if not all of the 2026-27 campaign. They do plan to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu to a five-year, $112 million contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, which means their backcourt should now be set.
However, their frontcourt is now a major mystery beyond Gobert and McDaniels.
Why The LaMelo Trade Could Backfire
Prior to this deal, the Wolves had already agreed to trade Julius Randle and the No. 28 pick in the 2026 NBA draft to the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 33 pick. At the time, it looked like a basic salary dump to free up the financial flexibility for Minnesota to re-sign Dosunmu and gain access to the $15.0 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Since that deal won’t be finalized until after the July Moratorium, it appears as though the Wolves will expand it by looping the Hornets in. Because they’re aggregating the contracts of Randle and Naz Reid to acquire Ball, they’re now hard-capped at the second apron for the 2026-27 season, which is projected to be $222 million.
Barring additional trades, the Wolves won’t have much wiggle room to round out the rest of their roster.
Behind McDaniels and Gobert, the Wolves do have Joan Beringer, whom they selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 draft. Beringer played sparingly as a rookie, averaging only 3.9 points in 7.9 minutes per game across 40 appearances, but the 19-year-old may be in line for a much bigger role behind Gobert this season.
The Wolves are too close to the first apron to have access to the $15.0 million non-taxpayer MLE, which means they’ll be limited to the $6.1 million taxpayer MLE unless they shed salary elsewhere. That isn’t much spending power to fortify their frontcourt.
With 7’4″ Victor Wembanyama lurking in San Antonio, other Western Conference title hopefuls appear to be intent on upsizing this offseason. The Oklahoma City Thunder just spent the No. 12 overall pick on Michigan center Aday Mara, who measured in at 7’3″ without shoes at the draft combine. They also have 7’1″ Chet Holmgren and 6’9″ Thomas Sorber, and they figure to retain 7’0″ Isaiah Hartenstein this offseason by picking up his team option or negotiating a new, multiyear deal with a lower annual salary.
The Spurs also added a ton of size during the draft between No. 20 pick Jayden Quaintance (6’10”, 255 pounds), No. 26 pick Tarris Reed Jr. (6’11”, 265 pounds) and No. 44 pick Maliq Brown (6’9″, 225 pounds). Even the Denver Nuggets joined the fun with by taking 6’10”, 230-pound forward Trevon Brazile at No. 35.
As the rest of the West zigs to find counters to Wemby, the Timberwolves are zagging by fortifying their backcourt instead.
To their credit, the Wolves didn’t have to give up a ton to acquire Ball. Reid is a fan favorite in Minnesota, but shipping out him, one first-round pick, three first-round swaps and three second-rounders is a relatively low price to pay for a star of Ball’s caliber. From a value standpoint, they did fine here.
The question is how they build out the rest of their roster, particularly with this much money tied up in Edwards, Ball and Dosunmu moving forward. The three of them will combine to make nearly $110 million this year, and that price will only continue to rise over the next few seasons.
Add in Gobert ($36.5 million this year, $38.0 million player option next year) and McDaniels ($26.2 million this year, $28.0 million next year, $29.8 million in 2028-29), and the Wolves are already going to be a pricey bunch. Another shoe presumably has to drop at some point.
While Ball stayed healthy enough to play 72 games this past season, he’s dealt with chronic ankle injuries since entering the NBA. He missed 141 of a possible 246 games between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 campaigns. If injuries continue to plague him in Minnesota, the top-heavy nature of the Wolves’ roster could backfire on them.
Given the price they paid for Ball, this was arguably a risk worth taking. But it’s a risk nonetheless, and if it goes sour, it could wind up being the beginning of the end of Edwards’ time in the Twin Cities.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.
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