The NBA offseason has already gotten off to an explosive start. Two teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Charlotte Hornets, have been at the forefront of the exchange, with arguably the biggest move coming in the form of LaMelo Ball finding a new home in the Western Conference.
A top-three pick from the 2020 NBA Draft, he is now paired with Anthony Edwards in an effort to find a way out of a loaded conference. However, for one veteran analyst, the move doesn’t move the needle at all.
LaMelo Ball Isn’t the Answer for the Timberwolves, Believes Analyst
Part of the Ball family, LaMelo was the second to make it to the league after Lonzo Ball. Instantly becoming the face of the Hornets, Ball’s unorthodox style earned him a rabid fan following.
A creative playmaker with some shooting talent, he was the Rookie of the Year and earned an All-Star selection in 2022. Add in career averages of 20.8 points and 7.3 assists per game, and he has emerged as one of the most electric players in the NBA.
As a result, the Timberwolves, fresh off losing in the second round of the playoffs after making back-to-back Western Conference Finals, decided to part ways with Naz Reid, a first-round pick, three first-round swaps, and three second-round picks to bring Ball to town.
However, Bill Simmons isn’t sure about the move from Minnesota’s end. On “The Bill Simmons podcast,” he broke down his grades for the two sides. “I’m at A- or A for Charlotte. I couldn’t believe the trade for Minnesota. I [expletive] hated it.”
Explaining his rationale, he added, “I get it on paper. LaMelo Ball would solve a lot of problems that you had with Anthony Edwards last year. There’s one problem: He doesn’t [expletive] play. He’s played two seasons of the last six.”
Going a step further, he dissed the trade completely, claiming, “You do this trade if you want to become the most beloved NBA team with under-25 fans who play video games and are online a lot. It’s a 2K merchandise jersey selling trade.”
Injury concerns have always been a problem with Ball, who has totaled over 52 games just twice in his career. But even that unavailability doesn’t tell the full story of his injury history.
“Last year, he played big minutes early, got hurt, came back. I watched a ton of Charlotte last year. They were using him like a race car on Sundays, just driving him slowly around the block. He averaged 27.5 MPG from mid-November on. They were really, really careful about not getting him hurt again, almost like they knew they were gonna trade him this summer.”
Calling him “the least durable good guard of the last 25 years,” Simmons made his case about the lack of playing time we’ve seen from Ball over the course of his six-year career.
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“Six seasons, 9,400 minutes, zero playoff games, which puts him on this crazy list of guys who have averaged 20 PPG in their first six seasons but have played less than 10,000 minutes. And it’s basically just him, Ja Morant, and Zion (Williamson)? That’s it?”
Finally, breaking down the specific injury concerns with Ball, he added, “He’s not reliable! I think he has metal in his ankle. This is not like, ‘Oh, Steph Curry had ankle injuries, too.’ LaMelo’s injuries are way worse than Steph Curry’s were.”
It remains to be seen if Ball can prove the doubters wrong about his chances with the Timberwolves, but a management that has taken the franchise to new heights seems completely bought in on him.
