NBA shocker: LaMelo Ball traded to Minnesota Timberwolves

LaMelo Ball has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for former Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid and future draft assets, per ESPN's Shams Charania. 

The Timberwolves will receive Ball and guard Josh Green, while the Hornets will get Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick; first-round pick swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030; and three second round picks (2029, 2032 and 2033). 

The flashy guard, a one-time All-Star with the Charlotte Hornets, was coming off his first healthy season since that 2022 All-Star Game appearance. 

Ball averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds to lead the Hornets to a 44-34 record and a victory in the first stage of the Play-In, making them one of the surprising stories of the 2025-26 NBA season. 

After a slow start, the team finished the year with a 33-15 record in their final 48 games, a 56-win pace over the course of a full season. 

The Timberwolves will now pair Ball with star guard Anthony Edwards to form one of the most formidable backcourt duos in the NBA. 

Edwards and Ball went No. 1 and No. 3, respectively in the 2020 NBA Draft. In their first season, the two finished first and second in Rookie of the Year voting, with Ball edging out his future co-star for the award. 

However, in the years since, the two have been on opposite trajectories, with the Timberwolves making two Western Conference Finals appearances and the Hornets failing to make the Playoffs. 

In the 2026 Playoffs, the Timberwolves fell to the eventual Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs in six games in the second round after struggling with injuries to Edwards, as well as guard Donte DiVincenzo, who sufferd a torn Achilles. 

The LaMelo Ball trade is the third major move the Timberwolves have made this season, after trading away forward Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets in a salary dump and subsequently signing guard Ayo Dosunmu to a new $5 year, 112 million deal. 

The Timberwolves will enter free agency with a core of Edwards, Ball, Dosunmu, defensive-minded wing Jalen McDaniels and shot-blocking center Rudy Gobert to round out their likely starting five, with young players Terrence Shannon Jr. and Joan Beringer projected to earn more minutes off the bench.  

In free agency, Minnesota will look to round out its roster, potentially aiming for some depth at the four to replace departed forwards Reid and Randle. 

Meanwhile, Charlotte loses a star guard, but the path is clear to re-sign free agent guard Coby White as the team looks to build around a young core of Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel. 

If White indeed re-signs, the Hornets would have a projected starting five of White, Knueppel, Miller, Reid and energetic center Moussa Diabate, whose entry into the starting lineup was a key catalyst for the team's turnaround this past season. 

Reid will add playoff experience and size to a Hornets team desperately in need of both, and at just 26 years old, he still fits the timeline of their young core. 

The draft assets will also give the Hornets future opportunities to improve their team, either by building out depth through the draft or compiling those assets in a trade for a star.