The Charlotte Hornets traded LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Charlotte Hornets are trading LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid and a series of draft picks, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Thursday.
In addition to Reid, the Hornets will receive an unprotected 2033 first-round pick and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033). Charlotte also gets first-round pick swaps in 2028, 2029 and 2030.
According to Charania, Ball is "very excited" to play with Anthony Edwards in Minnesota.
Edwards was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. He's a four-time All-Star with career averages of 24.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. The Timberwolves have reached the Western Conference Finals twice (2024, 2025) in the Edwards era. They lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the playoffs this year.
Meanwhile, Ball was the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. He won the 2020-21 Rookie of the Year Award. The one-time All-Star holds career averages of 20.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, which are great numbers, but Ball has never been to the playoffs.
Ball has three years left on his contract. He is eligible to sign a two-year, $119.2 million extension starting on July 6.
Minnesota is expected to start Ball, Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert next season.
The Hornets are now building around Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Coby White in the post-Ball era. In this year's draft, Charlotte selected Hannes Steinbach from Washington with the 14th overall pick and Texas Tech's Christian Anderson Jr. with the 18th overall pick.
Head coach Charles Lee will likely start White, Knueppel, Miller, Reid and Moussa Diabaté next season. The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016. They came one win away from making the playoffs this year.
The Hornets went 139-164 with Ball on the court. A new era will now begin in Charlotte next season.
Hornets Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Hornets. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.
