At first, I was hesitant to put the Minnesota Timberwolves here. Sure, they finally got a young point guard who can replace Mike Conley, but losing two of your top scorers in Julius Randle and Naz Reid — after back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals before last season’s second-round exit — looked like the kind of offseason that could lead to a step backward.
Then I started thinking about it.
Ant and Melo were the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the 2020 draft, and now they enter this season together in Minnesota. Edwards has already established himself as a bona fide superstar. LaMelo, on the other hand, has been one of the most naturally gifted point guards in basketball without ever playing in an NBA playoff game.
LaMelo has played in the same amount of playoff games as me.
But he’s also never played with somebody like Ant — and Ant has never played with somebody like Melo.
Minnesota’s offense asked Edwards to do too much last season. He still averaged 28.8 points while posting career-best shooting percentages, but the Wolves needed a real playmaker next to him. Ball gives them exactly that.
LaMelo averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds last season for Charlotte. He stayed healthier than he had in years, helped the Hornets reach the Play-In, and now goes from a team trying to find its way to one expecting a deep postseason run.
With all due respect to Mike Conley and Bones Hyland, LaMelo is clearly the most talented point guard Edwards has played with. That could matter even more in the playoffs, when defenses load up on Ant and force somebody else to create.
Last postseason already showed Minnesota can find scoring from unexpected places. When Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo went down in Game 4 against Denver, midseason acquisition Ayo Dosunmu exploded for 43 points. Minnesota re-signed Dosunmu this summer on a reported five-year, $112 million deal, keeping one of its most important two-way guards in the mix.
Jaden McDaniels also looks poised for another step. He averaged 14.8 points last season while shooting 51.5% from the floor and 41.2% from three, and he remains one of the league’s toughest perimeter defenders.
Losing Naz Reid’s dependable scoring and Julius Randle’s playmaking and physicality will sting. But the Ball trade and the addition of Jonathan Kuminga give the Wolves a different kind of offensive ceiling.
Kuminga gives Minnesota another athletic wing who can create his own shot — something this roster has needed beyond Edwards. Between Melo and Kuminga, the Wolves now have two more players capable of creating offense when the system stalls.
Edwards won’t have to create everything late in games. He shouldn’t have to fight through a double team every other possession. If the fit works, he can spend more of his energy doing what he does best: scoring.
If Minnesota stays healthy, Ant and Melo coexist, and the Wolves keep a top-tier defensive identity with McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, I can see this group winning 55–60 games and challenging for a top-three seed in the West.
Any team with Anthony Edwards has a chance to make a deep playoff run.
Maybe this is finally the year he gets Minnesota to the Finals.