The Minnesota Timberwolves finally got their LaMelo Ball trade across the finish line on Friday, and that opened the door for Chris Finch to talk publicly about what the star point guard brings to the roster.
Finch joined Jake Fischer and Marc Stein on Bleacher Report’s Insider Notebook and made it clear he likes the fit. He pointed to Ball’s impact, his energy and the way he lifts the players around him.
“We felt that the fit with Anthony was ideal as well as our other guys.” Finch said.
“You get a chance to bring in a guy in here who was at the heart of a ton of success last season. He put together a healthy campaign..he’s really excited to join a team that is poised to play a lot of meaningful basketball.
We love his energy, I love his style of play. I think that the connectivity he has naturally with his teammates.
If you look at the numbers, there’s no denying that everybody’s productivity goes up when he’s on the floor next to them.”
Finch didn’t spell it out directly, but the message was hard to miss: this was also a pushback against the baggage that has followed Ball through the NBA.
Over the course of his first six seasons, Ball has been tagged with labels like injury-prone, me-first and not a winner. Last season gave him a chance to chip away at those ideas, and now he has another opportunity to do it with Minnesota.
There’s plenty in his game that backs up Finch’s optimism. The Hornets finished last season on a strong run and ended up one win short of the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Ball’s scoring dipped from his previous peaks, but the season may have been his best overall. He played 72 games after appearing in just 105 total over the previous three years, and he took fewer bad shots while Charlotte surrounded him with the most talent he’s had in his career.
Now the 24-year-old, who turns 25 on August 22, gets to share the floor with Anthony Edwards. Kon Knueppel had a wonderful rookie year, and Brandon Miller is an ascending offensive talent, but Ball still hasn’t played with a scorer as dynamic as Ant-Man.
The numbers also support the case. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Hornets were 11.6 points per 100 possessions better with Ball on the court last season. It marked the second straight year he finished in the 99th percentile in net on/off difference.
And the effect goes both ways. Ball tends to make the players around him better, and the Timberwolves are betting that Edwards will unlock even more in him. It should be a fun pairing, and there’s a real chance Minnesota’s floor and ceiling both climb with Ball running the point.
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