LaMelo Ball’s game is built around something the NBA doesn’t seem to produce nearly as often anymore: real playmaking.
That’s the trait that stands out first, even before the scoring. Ball finished third in the league with a 42.6 assist percentage and ninth in raw assists per game, but the bigger story is what those numbers represent.
He doesn’t just rack up dimes. He lifts the guys around him, and that kind of impact is hard to find now.
Timberwolves lead executive Tim Connelly put it plainly during an appearance on the Jon Krawczynski Show, pointing to how the league’s development trends have made passing a rarer skill.
"I think there's so much focus on early specialization and one-on-0 development, where, like, you've got to play to learn how to pass. You can't learn how to pass.
So, everybody in the NBA right now can snake dribble. Everybody can, you know, shoot in and out 3-pointers.
Everyone can step back. But to be able to pass, make people better, you've got to play constantly.
So, Melo, you know, he's 13, 14, playing with 18, 19 year olds. He's going to Lithuania, he's going to Australia, seeing all these different schools of basketball.
Some guys can pass; he can actually playmake; he, you know, he can pass you into an open shot," Connelly said.
That’s the distinction with Ball. Plenty of guards can score and can make the routine read.
Fewer can consistently bend a defense and create clean looks for everyone else. Ball sits in that smaller group with players such as Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and an aging James Harden.
The list of pure table setters is shorter than it used to be, and even the best playmakers usually need scoring gravity to make their passing work. Ball has that too. His size, processing, basketball IQ, and scoring give him a package that’s tough to replicate.
The numbers back it up. Last season, Kon Knueppel shot 10.3 percent better from 3-point range with Ball on the floor, and Miles Bridges’ 3-point percentage rose by 7.9 percent. The Charlotte Hornets also became the number one offense after the turn of the calendar, and they were 11.6 points per 100 possessions better with Ball on the court.
For Minnesota, that’s the appeal. The Timberwolves have been looking for a natural playmaker, and Ball fits that need cleanly.
He can steady the offense, ease the burden on Anthony Edwards, and open things up for Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu, and Joan Beringer. Even Edwards should benefit, with more chances to work off the ball and more energy saved for everything else he has to do.
In a league where so many guards can dribble, score, and fire away, Ball brings something less common: the ability to make everybody else better. That’s why his playmaking matters so much, and why the Timberwolves valued it enough to make the move.
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