The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t just need a tweak this offseason. They needed a real answer, and that’s why the LaMelo Ball trade makes more sense than the “run it back” crowd wants to admit.
Yes, the move has split people down the middle. Some around the league have already declared Minnesota the loser in the deal, and a month later the second-guessing hasn’t gone away. But keeping the same core together, especially with Julius Randle still in the mix, would have been the wrong path.
That point came up recently on The Bill Simmons Podcast, where Joe House questioned why Minnesota didn’t simply stay put.
"The thing that I wonder, and I will wonder this entire upcoming season, is why Minnesota didn't just run it back. And I do get the idea of moving on from Randle.
Getting rid of Randle is kinda fine; you can kinda run it back without Randle. Although speaking of innings eaters, he has been pretty durable," House said.
Simmons said he’s been making that argument all summer, too. That view is out there for a reason. But from Minnesota’s side, the logic of standing pat never really held up.
When you have a player like Anthony Edwards, the mission is championship or bust. Tim Connelly appears to understand that better than most front-office decision-makers.
The Wolves had to find Edwards a reliable co-star, and the hope was that Randle could fill that role. At times, he flashed it.
But in the biggest moments over the past two years, he didn’t hold up, and in the San Antonio Spurs series, it looked like he checked out.
That’s the part that makes the “just run it back” idea so shaky. Minnesota was not going anywhere meaningful with Randle as Edwards’ sidekick, and his game never looked like the clean fit you want next to a star wing. However productive he might be over the course of a regular season, bringing him back was not the answer.
Once you accept that Randle had to go, the next question becomes obvious: what’s the best way to replace him? The Wolves could have gone the free-agency route after moving him, and names like Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons would have been in that conversation. Keeping Naz Reid and building around a second-option-by-committee approach was another possibility.
But if the goal is to chase a title, Minnesota needed more than a patchwork fix. It needed a legitimate second option, and it needed someone who could help solve the playmaking problem that has followed Edwards throughout his career.
That’s where Ball changes the equation. The Wolves’ lack of creation has been a recurring issue, and it has shown up in each of their last three playoff exits.
Against high-pressure defenses like the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, that weakness becomes even harder to hide. Ball gives Minnesota a real solution to that problem, and he can still work off the ball when the situation calls for it.
He isn’t perfect, and nobody is pretending otherwise. But the upside is the point. Ball gives the Timberwolves a higher ceiling, and betting on an ultra-talented guard is a lot more defensible than pretending the old setup was good enough.
In time, Connelly’s vision should become clear.
In Other News...
Timberwolves May Be Backed Into A Risky Bones Hyland Decision
Bones Hylands place on the Timberwolves bench has become one of the more delicate roster questions in Minnesota after a summer that changed the frontcourt and trimmed some of the teams depth. The five-year veteran guard gave the Wolves a useful regular-season spark, but his profile is a little different now, with the team needing to sort out who can reliably soak up second-unit minutes when the rotation tightens.
Minnesota may have to lean on Hyland more than it would prefer, and that is where the risk comes in. His postseason track record has not matched his regular-season production, and the Wolves have to decide whether they can count on him in a larger bench role or whether those playoff inconsistencies will force them to keep a shorter leash once the games matter most. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves May Have Found An Uncomfortable Answer At The Four
The Timberwolves still have a real question mark at power forward after missing out on LeBron James, and it is the kind of roster hole that can shape everything else around the edges. Chris Finch does not appear eager to simply slide Jaden McDaniels into that spot, which leaves Minnesota weighing whether the answer comes from internal reshuffling or from a more conventional move later on.
For now, the conversation circles back to Anthony Edwards and the possibility of asking him to shoulder more on the defensive end, even though last season showed how bumpy that can be when his focus drifts off the ball. There is also a reason the idea has any traction at all: Edwards has the frame and athletic tools to make a different kind of impact if the Wolves decide to test his versatility while they wait for a cleaner solution. [Read more 🡒]