LaMelo Ball is one of the rare players in the NBA who isn't just a great playmaker but also elevates the game of those around him. After many playoff series where the offense was way too bogged down, resulting in Anthony Edwards' isolation basketball as the only form of effective offense, it was imperative that the Minnesota Timberwolves acquire an elite playmaker. Thankfully, they filled this void with Ball.
Ball will help the offense as a whole reach new levels, since he'll add a whole lot of creativity and movement to the team. But there are also individuals on the team who will benefit heavily from his presence. Three players stick out above the rest in this regard.
3. Jonathan Kuminga
After turning down a lot of money in previous offseasons, one of Kuminga's main goals this year is to prove his value as a winning player in the NBA. Ball will be key in helping him do that. It's clear that NBA teams don't value Kuminga as a volume scorer, and his path to earning a lucrative contract and a starting job is to shine in a complementary role.
He needs to be active on the glass, a positive presence on defense, and to be able to feast on the open looks that Ball feeds him. Plus, LaMelo will generate plenty of looks for Kuminga in transition, open 3-pointers, and cuts to the basket. Even if his raw scoring numbers may still look similar to his Golden State and Atlanta days, he'll be doing so while contributing to winning basketball.
2. Anthony Edwards
Honestly, Edwards has a pretty solid case for number one. With the addition of Ball, he finally has someone who can take the pressure off him on offense. Like I said earlier, the last few playoff runs have ended primarily due to poor offensive personnel surrounding him. No spacing, no playmaking, and nobody to give Edwards a play off.
Ball solves almost all of these issues. He lessens the playmaking duties for Edwards, leaving him to do what he does best: scoring the basketball. He provides an elite outlet that Edwards can trust when he's being double-teamed. He is also one of the best spacers in the league, capable of launching threes from almost anywhere inside of halfcourt. If Edwards messes around and leads the league in scoring, you can bet that Ball will be a big reason why.
1. Rudy Gobert
Gobert is the most obvious player on this list. He hasn't had someone on the team capable of unlocking him on the offensive side of the ball since the first season of Mike Conley. With all due respect to Conley, Ball is 20 times the player Conley is at this stage of their respective careers.
For whatever reason, nobody on the team in the last couple of years is able to feed Gobert the ball, making him relatively useless on offense in certain playoff matchups. Some of that is on Gobert; his hands at times certainly aren't the best, but he hasn't had the playmakers on the team to put him in positions to succeed. LaMelo Ball will do that. He made Moussa Diabate look like a very good center, and Rudy Gobert is better than him on both sides of the ball.
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