Chris Finch has spent years building a reputation as the kind of coach who can turn offense into a weapon. Now, with LaMelo Ball in Minnesota, he finally has the sort of point guard who can make that reputation pop.
Finch arrived with the Timberwolves midway through the 2020-21 season after a decade as an NBA assistant, and that stretch helped define him as a creative offensive mind. It was part of the reason Minnesota went outside the organization to hire him after parting ways with Ryan Saunders. Since then, though, he hasn’t had a star-level lead guard to work with until the trade for Ball changed that.
On the Dane Moore NBA Podcast, Moore put the fit plainly: “I think Finch, the 'offensive guru/genius' that was brought in, the type of player that he really appreciates and has been missing from this team is just a very high-level passer…he loves the idea of what this can be.”
That’s the key here. Ball doesn’t just score; he sees the floor in a way that can open up everything around him. For a coach whose offensive chops have been easier to spot in theory than in practice with Minnesota’s more limited guard play, Ball gives Finch a chance to lean into the part of his game that made him stand out in the first place.
The Timberwolves have leaned on D’Angelo Russell and Mike Conley at point guard during Finch’s tenure. Conley, long one of Finch’s favorites, has slowed with age, and he signed with the Boston Celtics this offseason. Ball is a different kind of engine entirely.
Finch’s background backs up the excitement. As an assistant, he started with the Houston Rockets and spent four seasons coaching James Harden.
Before Harden, he had a year with a young Kyle Lowry. He later worked with Jrue Holiday in New Orleans and again with Lowry in Toronto.
In those stops, he was often viewed as the offensive coordinator.
Harden was the biggest name in that group, but the common thread was passing. That’s why Ball fits so naturally into the conversation.
There has always been noise around his shot selection, but his vision has never been in doubt. Put that kind of creator on the floor, and Minnesota’s offense can start to look a lot different.
The numbers back up the case. Ball has averaged more than seven assists per game in each of the last five seasons with the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte also scored 11.6 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than when he sat in 2025-26, and 11.4 more in 2024-25.
That’s why the buzz around the Wolves is real. A Ball-Anthony Edwards backcourt has the look of something electric, and Finch finally has the lead guard who can help take Minnesota’s offense somewhere higher.
In Other News...
Timberwolves Solved One Problem And Created A Bigger One
LaMelo Ball and Josh Green have changed the Timberwolves look in a hurry, giving Minnesota a real upgrade at point guard after the roster-shaping trades that sent Naz Reid, Julius Randle and draft capital out the door. It is the kind of move that can make a team feel more dynamic overnight, and for a club trying to stay in the Western Conference mix, the appeal is obvious.
The catch is that the Wolves did not just solve one problem, they also thinned out a frontcourt that already needed attention and pushed the front office into a tighter financial corner. Tim Connelly has already acknowledged the need for creativity at power forward, and Minnesota still has work to do just to get to a 14-man roster while staying close to the second apron, so the next move may say as much about the teams flexibility as the first one did about its ambition. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves May Be Running Out Of Time With This Core
The Timberwolves have spent the last few seasons building around a young core that looks good on paper and, at least for now, is locked in through 2029. Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels give Minnesota the kind of talent base most teams would love to protect, but the problem is the price tag that comes with keeping a contender intact in the NBAs new financial climate.
The second tax apron has a way of turning long-term optimism into immediate roster math, and Minnesota is headed toward those same decisions. Edwards is likely to wait until next summer for his supermax, Balls next deal should land well north of $40 million a year, and McDaniels is also in line for a major payday, which means the Wolves may have only a narrow window to keep this group together before the pressure starts forcing harder choices about who stays and how much flexibility remains. [Read more 🡒]
Wolves Fans Are Split On What Ayo Dosunmu Will Be Worth
Ayo Dosunmus place in Minnesota has become one of those roster questions that says as much about team-building as it does about one player. Once the Timberwolves added LaMelo Ball, Dosunmus value shifted from standalone scorer to complementary piece, the kind of versatile guard who can slot next to Ball and Anthony Edwards without needing the ball to define his night.
That is why the reaction around his contract has been so divided. Some fans see a player whose all-around game fits the profile of the useful pieces that tend to show up on championship teams, while others focus on the price tag and wonder whether Minnesota is paying for a ceiling that still needs proving. The broader market view is more forgiving, with Dosunmu expected to land well below the leagues highest-paid names, which only sharpens the debate over whether the Wolves found a bargain or simply committed early to a role player whose value will be judged by what happens around him. [Read more 🡒]