High usage from Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball looks more like a feature than a bug for Minnesota.
The obvious worry is easy to spot. Ball has lived near the top of the league in usage for years, and his 35.9 percent mark in 2024-25 led the NBA.
That number also ranked as the 25th-highest since the 1977-78 season. Edwards isn’t far behind in that department, either.
Over the last three seasons, his usage rate has sat at no lower than 31.4 percent.
So yes, this is a backcourt built around two players who want the ball and have earned the right to use it. That can raise questions about how the rest of the roster fits. But the numbers and the recent history around both guards suggest Minnesota doesn’t need to panic about everybody else getting frozen out.
Ball has already shown he can lift an offense without monopolizing every possession. In each of the last two seasons, he finished in the 99th percentile in offensive rating when he was on the floor compared with when he was off.
Charlotte scored 11.6 more points per 100 possessions in 2025-26 with Ball playing, and 11.4 more in 2024-25. That kind of swing doesn’t happen because one player is simply hoisting shots.
It happens because the offense is cleaner, faster, and more dangerous with him running it.
That should matter in Minnesota, where Ball’s playmaking gives the Timberwolves a different kind of juice. Edwards can score in bunches, but Ball’s ability to set the table should help turn touches into better looks for everyone else.
And Edwards has already spent plenty of time alongside another big-time scorer. In three of the last four seasons, he’s played next to a 20-point scorer - Julius Randle once and Karl-Anthony Towns twice. Minnesota has not exactly been a one-man operation around him.
There’s also the pace factor. The Timberwolves are expected to play faster this season, which means more possessions to go around. That alone should create more chances for the rest of the group, even on nights when Ball and Edwards dominate the scoring load.
Sure, there will be stretches when players like Jaden McDaniels and Jonathan Kuminga don’t feel heavily involved. There may even be games when they get only six or seven shot attempts. But that’s not unusual for the third and fourth options on most teams.
If McDaniels and Kuminga run the floor in transition and knock down their open 3s, they’ll still get theirs over the course of the year. The key is that Ball and Edwards can be the headliners without shutting the rest of the offense down. With Ball’s passing and Edwards’ scoring punch, Minnesota should have enough room for everybody to matter.
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The Timberwolves spent the offseason reshaping the top of their roster after injuries and uneven play exposed enough flaws to force real change. Trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid for LaMelo Ball and signing Jonathan Kuminga gave Minnesota a different look in the starting group, one built less around familiarity and more around the idea that internal growth can clean up what went wrong a year ago.
Now the early pressure points are clear. Ball has to adjust to a role that asks him to fit next to Anthony Edwards rather than drive everything himself, while Kuminga is stepping into the power forward spot with the job of bringing more juice on both ends. Minnesota is banking on that combination, plus a sharper defensive commitment, to raise the floor of a lineup that still has plenty to prove. [Read more 🡒]
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Minnesotas decision on Gobert would not come lightly, but salary cap realities always have a way of forcing the issue. If Beringer keeps progressing and Kuminga settles in as more than a temporary solution, the Wolves could face a difficult call next offseason about whether to keep paying for an elite veteran center or pivot toward a younger, cheaper structure. For now, it is more of a planning exercise than a deadline, but it is the kind of roster question that can sneak up fast. [Read more 🡒]
Timberwolves Suddenly Have One Big Problem Fans Will Gladly Take
The Timberwolves have spent much of the summer trying to answer the same question every contending team eventually faces: how do you feed enough mouths without dulling the edge of the ones who matter most? Anthony Edwards remains the centerpiece, but Minnesota now has a deeper mix of shot creators and versatile pieces around him, with Jaden McDaniels and LaMelo Ball adding to a group that can score in different ways. For once, the concern is less about finding enough talent and more about keeping it organized.
Jonathan Kumingas arrival helped settle an earlier frontcourt worry and gives Minnesota another useful option in a rotation that suddenly looks crowded in all the right places. The challenge now is figuring out how the offense can keep everybody engaged, and the answer may come from a quicker tempo that lets the Wolves spread touches around without forcing one player to carry too much. It is a nice problem to have, even if it still leaves the coaching staff with a few lineup puzzles to sort out. [Read more 🡒]