Chris Finch’s connection to the Ball family runs deeper than most Timberwolves fans probably realize, and it could matter now that LaMelo Ball is in Minnesota.
Finch has been the head coach of the Timberwolves for five and a half seasons, long enough that in franchise history only he or Flip Saunders sit atop any major team head-coaching leaderboard. But before Minnesota, Finch spent time as an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans, and that’s where the thread to LaMelo starts.
On Dane Moore’s podcast, Finch opened up about coaching LaMelo’s brother Lonzo in New Orleans, a detail that hadn’t really gotten much attention when the Timberwolves were announced as trading for LaMelo back in June.
“I coached his brother in New Orleans… coached Lonzo (Ball), who was a joy to coach,” Finch said. “I knew the family, and I knew the DNA of Lonzo, and I’d been told by people that they’re about the right things. Getting to know him so far has been easy.”
That history gives Finch a little extra familiarity as he gets ready to manage LaMelo for the first time. The Ball brothers are not carbon copies on the court.
Lonzo is about two inches shorter and has never been the scorer LaMelo is, while LaMelo hasn’t matched Lonzo’s defense, at least before Lonzo’s frequent injuries. Still, both players have carried the same kind of visible joy when they’re out there.
Finch also said earlier this offseason, in an interview with Chris Hine, that LaMelo has an “infectious quality”. That kind of presence can make it easier to build trust in a locker room, and it fits with the early signs of how quickly he connected with Anthony Edwards. That matters on a team where moodiness showed up at times last season.
There’s another layer, too. LaVar Ball has always been a loud presence around his sons, even if that has calmed down in recent years.
He now shares a podcast with the fathers of Dwyane Wade and Jayson Tatum. Finch likely had some prior exposure to LaVar during Lonzo’s time in New Orleans, which may help him understand how to approach those conversations now.
During the 2020-21 season, Finch and Lonzo were both with the Pelicans, and Lonzo started all 55 of his games while averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.5 steals.
The reason this connection hasn’t been a bigger talking point is pretty simple: New Orleans went 31-41 that season and missed the Play-In Tournament, so it didn’t stick in people’s minds the way Lonzo’s stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls did. Finch’s path before Minnesota also included a stop on the Toronto Raptors’ coaching staff, but his time with the Pelicans is the less remembered piece - and now, maybe the more relevant one.
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Chris Finch has spent enough time around the playoffs to know the old formulas can stop working fast, and he used that backdrop to frame a bigger conversation about how Minnesota wants to operate going forward. The Timberwolves coach pointed to the limitations of teams that lean too heavily on one ball-dominant creator, then tied that lesson to the kind of roster balance he believes gives a team a better chance when the games tighten in May.
Minnesota, in Finchs view, is moving toward a more layered attack instead of asking one player to carry every possession. With LaMelo Ball in the mix, the Wolves can ease Anthony Edwards into more of a scoring role and spread the decision-making around, which fits Finchs bigger point about depth and interchangeable pieces. The question now is whether that approach can give Minnesota the kind of playoff edge so many star-driven teams spend years chasing. [Read more 🡒]
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The Hornets already have a crowded backcourt, and Dillingham is walking into a situation where every possession will matter. Questions about his shooting, his physicality and how much overall impact he can make have followed him from stop to stop, and now the pressure shifts to proving he can carve out a role before the guard rotation closes in around him. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Camp Battle Could Shake Up Minnesotas Back-End Roster
The Timberwolves have quietly filled out their training camp roster with a trio of newcomers in Norchad Omier, Drew Timme and KJ Martin, giving the front office a few more names to sort through as the season approaches. Omier and Timme come in as undrafted players with G League and limited NBA experience, while Martin brings the kind of prior NBA background that can make a back-end roster spot a little more interesting than it first appears.
Minnesota is looking at all of that talent in the context of a broader camp group that also includes additions like LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga, which should make for a more crowded evaluation process than usual. The real intrigue is how the Wolves sort the depth chart once the competition settles in, especially with the kind of two-way opening that can turn an overlooked camp invite into a real chance to stay. [Read more 🡒]