The first real look at LaMelo Ball in a Timberwolves jersey arrives Wednesday night, and Minnesota’s season opener in Miami should tell Chris Finch plenty about how quickly his new point guard can change the shape of this team.
The Wolves tip off the 2026-27 regular season against the Heat at 6:30 PM CT on ESPN, with the franchise stepping into what it hopes is a new era after trading for Ball in late June. The 25-year-old All-Star has spent the last four months at the center of the buzz in Minnesota, and the early signs from the preseason pointed to the kind of offensive organizer the Wolves have been missing.
Ball averaged 5.8 assists over four preseason games, and the clearest theme was simple: he kept the ball moving. Instead of hunting for his own shot, he worked within the flow of the offense, knocking down catch-and-shoot 3s and zipping the ball to teammates in stride. Those quick decisions helped Minnesota keep the action moving, something the Wolves have struggled with in recent years, especially when Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards shared the floor.
If Ball can keep that approach when the games count, Minnesota’s offense should be in better shape.
But the Wolves also need cleaner possessions. Ball committed 3.5 turnovers per game in the preseason, and some of those came while he was trying to make the right read. Finch wasn’t bothered by all of it.
“We've been a high turnover team historically,” Finch said during the preseason. “But if we're trying to do the right thing, sometimes I think it's overblown. I'll say, turnovers are overrated sometimes.”
Still, Miami is not a place to get loose with the ball. Last season, the Heat ranked tenth in opponent turnovers, sixth in points off those turnovers, and second in fast-break points. If Minnesota coughs it up too often, Miami will make the Wolves pay.
The Heat bring pressure right at the point of attack, and Davion Mitchell stands out as one of the NBA’s top point-of-attack defenders. Edwards usually heads to bed early the night before going up against him. That physical edge is part of what makes Miami such a tough draw, and it’s exactly the kind of defense Ball was brought in to help solve after Edwards was blitzed repeatedly by the San Antonio Spurs in last season’s second-round exit.
Minnesota already saw a version of that problem in the preseason. Detroit turned up the pressure, blitzed Ball, and made it hard for the Wolves to find answers. That kind of in-your-face defense ended Minnesota’s season last year, and it could be the first test of this one, too.
The other side of the ball matters just as much. Ball’s length and foot speed give Minnesota a chance to be more disruptive on the perimeter, and that will matter against a Miami frontcourt led by Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Together, they bring size, physicality and downhill scoring that can stress the Wolves at the rim.
The Pistons exposed that area in preseason, when Jalen Duren rolled through Minnesota for 24 points on 8-for-8 shooting inside the paint. He did all of it in just 15 first-half minutes.
Detroit beat the Wolves 64-30 in points in the paint, and even Rudy Gobert’s rim protection couldn’t keep the damage from piling up. The root problem was point-of-attack defense, where Duren’s screens helped Cade Cunningham slice through Minnesota and create easy finishes.
A similar script is possible against Miami if the Wolves don’t defend the perimeter much better than they did in that preseason loss. The Heat’s offense won’t look the same as Detroit’s, and Erik Spoelstra is likely to lean less on pick-and-roll. Even so, Minnesota will still have to build the kind of perimeter wall it has used in the past against Antetokounmpo, taking away the driving lanes and making life harder inside.
That starts with Ball, who will need to battle over screens and stay engaged defensively. His offense will draw the headlines, but his willingness to buy in on that end will help determine how far the Wolves can go with him running the show.
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The intrigue is in the personnel and the history around it, because this is not just any one-on-one look on the wing. The Wolves have seen McDaniels draw the type of attention that can swing an entire possession, and the expected matchup brings a familiar name back into the picture for fans who remember how physical these teams and players can get when emotions start to rise. If Minnesota is going to get an edge early, McDaniels may be one of the clearest paths to it. [Read more 🡒]