Timberwolves Pair LaMelo Ball With Edwards in Title Push

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves enter the new NBA season still chasing the first championship in franchise history, and this time they are betting on a new backcourt to get them there.

Minnesota landed point guard LaMelo Ball in a multi-team summer trade that sent Naz Reid and Julius Randle out. Ball, the third pick in the 2020 draft, made 272 threes in 2025-26, second most in the league, and he and Anthony Edwards, the top pick that same year, are both 25.

The fit is built around Edwards getting easier looks. He hit 49.6% of his catch-and-shoot threes last season, the best rate among qualifying players, but only about a quarter of his long-range tries came that way as more of the offense ran through his dribble. A second playmaker beside him is meant to change that.

Jonathan Kuminga was brought in to fill the hole at power forward, where the roster is thin on size, while Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels remain the defensive anchors. Minnesota went 49-33 last season, finished sixth in the West and was eliminated by San Antonio in six games in the conference semifinals, its third straight deep playoff run.

Coach Chris Finch also added a familiar face to his bench. Tim Lewis, born in St Asaph, Wales, and the NBA's first coach born in Britain, returns to Minnesota as a full assistant responsible for offensive game planning plus some development work with young big men. Lewis has coached the national teams of Thailand and Qatar, worked in Japan, and served alongside Finch on the Great Britain staff at the 2012 London Olympics.

The schedule offers no soft landing. The Wolves open Wednesday against Miami, where Giannis Antetokounmpo makes his Heat debut, and face Orlando and Toronto soon after. A rematch with the Spurs follows on Oct. 31.

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