Anthony Edwards has spent most of his rise in Minnesota carrying a load that never really let up. He was the scorer, the creator, and too often the guy asked to do a little bit of everything for the Timberwolves offense. Chris Finch sees LaMelo Ball changing that equation in a big way.
Ball’s arrival gives Minnesota something it has not had in the same way before: a true pass-first guard who can take pressure off Edwards and make the whole attack flow differently. Finch said the fit goes beyond simply adding another talented name to the roster.
“There were some really good moments. But it was an unfair pressure for him to have to run the team and be a scorer and all that kind of stuff.
We looked at some other things out there, but this just felt like the right thing. He just fulfills so many needs, We needed a point guard of the future," the Timberwolves coach declared.
The setup is straightforward enough. Edwards can lean harder into being the scoring machine, while Ball handles more of the organizing and table-setting from the backcourt. Finch believes that split can help both players reach another level, and he pointed to how Ball’s style can bring out the best in Minnesota’s franchise cornerstone.
“We needed a connector, not just a point guard. But we don’t get just a point guard.
We get an All-Star-level point guard. We get a guy who naturally is a pass-first guy who wants to get the ball moving, who can accentuate our best player’s talents," the Timberwolves head coach added.
That kind of playmaking is exactly why Ball stands out. His 39.14% assist percentage ranks 13th all-time in the NBA, ahead of names like Nikola Jokic, LeBron James, Isiah Thomas, and James Harden. For Finch, that’s not just a number - it’s proof that Minnesota is adding a rare kind of creator.
Ball and Edwards arrived in the league through similar paths after the 2020 NBA Draft, each landing in the spotlight immediately and each being asked to carry a franchise before the rest of the roster was ready. Now they’re set to share a backcourt with different jobs and, at least on paper, cleaner roles.
Edwards gets relief. Ball gets the keys to orchestrate.
Finch gets more room to shape the offense with creative schemes.
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Minnesota, though, was never eager to budge. The Timberwolves have set a steep price on Gobert and have made it clear they are not in a rush to move him, especially after recently adding LaMelo Ball to the roster. For Boston, it leaves a familiar question hanging in the background: how close were they really to landing the kind of defensive anchor that can change the shape of a rotation? [Read more 🡒]