{"id":2940,"date":"2026-06-25T16:13:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2940"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:13:23","slug":"hornets-trade-lamelo-ball-to-timberwolves-in-stunning-nba-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2940","title":{"rendered":"Hornets trade LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves in stunning NBA deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Hornets are out of the Lamelo Ball business, trading him to the Timberwolves on Thursday, ESPN.com reported.<\/p>\n

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Ball was shipped to Minnesota in exchange for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, and 2030) and three second-round picks.<\/p>\n

Reserve guard Josh Green heads to Minnesota as well in the trade. <\/p>\n

The move comes after reports that Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards would force a trade from Minnesota in the near future if the team doesn\u2019t improve his supporting cast.<\/p>\n

The pairing of Ball and Edwards should be interesting, as the now-former Hornets guard is one of the most divisive stars in the NBA. <\/p>\n

Ball is not known as a player who takes defensive effort particularly seriously, although he did play better during the Hornets\u2019 second-half playoff push, where they went 18-9, among the best in basketball.<\/p>\n

Shot selection is another key sticking point that has frustrated Ball fans, as he sometimes shoots off-balance jump shots from several feet beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be up to Timberwolves coach Chris Finch to reign in Ball\u2019s questionable shot quality and inconsistent defensive prowess.<\/p>\n

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The poor defensive metrics will likely be masked somewhat by the presence of perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Rudy Gobert backing him up down low.<\/p>\n

Ball has also seldomly been available during his NBA career. <\/p>\n

He played in 72 games last season, the second-most of his career, but suited up for just 105 of a possible 246 games in his prior three seasons in the league.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Ball averaged his fewest points per game since his rookie year (20.1), but he still helped the Hornets qualify for the Play-In Tournament, and last season was the most wins he has contributed to since he entered the NBA. <\/p>\n

For Minnesota, the loss of Reid certainly hurts their big man depth, as they also just traded their other forward, Julius Randle, to the Nets in a salary dump earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The Hornets will now go forward with guards that consist of Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel, while welcoming in Reid to their backcourt. <\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court rules Trump can turn back asylum seekers at US border in major immigration win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hornets are out of the Lamelo Ball business, trading him to the Timberwolves on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nHornets trade LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves in stunning NBA deal - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2940\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hornets trade LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves in stunning NBA deal - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Hornets are out of the Lamelo Ball business, trading him to the Timberwolves on Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2940\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T16:13:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Hornets trade LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves in stunning NBA deal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T16:13:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940\"},\"wordCount\":402,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b0917b4bcf5f24c5f5c1156b31e25899.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=2940\",\"name\":\"Hornets trade LaMelo Ball to Timberwolves in stunning NBA deal - 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