So the Hornets seemed to have finally done the thing that didn’t seem possible the past several years, and that’s get out of the LaMelo Ball business. Back when the trade took place, there were two camps of thought with no really in-between. Either the Timberwolves solidly won the trade by finally getting another functional ball handler that could help ANT and create a bit more offense. Or, the Hornets definitely won the trade by getting value in return for an often injured and erratic player. But for fantasy purposes, the in-between does exist… so based of that, there’s some things to like and some things not to like with each of the primary players moved.
Here’s how the trade ended up looking in its entirety…
- Timberwolves acquire LaMelo Ball, Josh Green, and the draft rights to Isaiah Evans (No. 33 pick; from Nets).
- Hornets acquire Naz Reid, Mouhamadou Gueye, the draft rights to Matteo Spagnolo (from Timberwolves), the Timberwolves’ 2033 first-round pick, the Timberwolves’ 2029 second-round pick, the Timberwolves’ 2032 second-round pick, the Timberwolves’ 2033 second-round pick, the right to swap their 2028 first-round pick for the Timberwolves’ 2028 first-round pick, the right to swap their 2029 first-round pick for the Timberwolves’ 2029 first-round pick (6-30 protected), and a 2030 first-round pick swap.
- Nets acquire Julius Randle and the draft rights to Joshua Jefferson (No. 28 pick; from Timberwolves).
- Bulls acquire Nic Claxton.
To me, LaMelo Ball’s value essentially remains the same. I think last year was progress in terms of efficiency and just overall stronger point guard play… basically Ball was able to smooth out his edges a bit as the Hornets went on a huge late-season run. You could fathom better production with better players around him, but I’m not so sure the Hornets didn’t lack weapons either, so I take his progress seriously, and like the Wolves and his fit, but the same concerns about health and wackiness remain, so be sure to keep that in mind.
I really see no downside here for Naz Reid. and to a lesser extent, Julius Randle. While Randle relies a bit more on ISO, both players are going to teams that will either implicitly trust them with usage and court impact (Reid) and just let them be them (Randle).
While Nic Claxton was an intriguing shot-blocking and rim-running option earlier in his career, he’s kinda settled in at being a low-end impact big man. I could see a fun two-man game developing between him and Giddey, but it’ll be interesting to see how he plays with rising draft star Caleb Wilson. That being said, keep your expectations limited as usual.
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
