Needless to say, Anthony Edwards' knee injury is a blow to the Minnesota Timberwolves. With Edwards out for roughly two months, LaMelo Ball now becomes the Wolves' first option. Unfortunately, the first game of Ball in this role was subpar. During a 119-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors, Ball recorded eight points, eight assists, four rebounds, and six turnovers while shooting 3-for-11 from the field and 2-for-8 from the 3-point range.
Now, I don't expect this to be the norm going forward. Ball is a supremely talented perimeter scorer and playmaker. He also had some of the best advanced stats in the league last year. And Ball is used to being a first option from his time with the Charlotte Hornets. Simply put, the guy can hoop.
Regardless, Ball's main flaw is his rim pressure, and this will cause problems for the Wolves as they navigate life without Edwards. Notably, has never shot above 60 percent at the rim, and this season he is averaging just 1.3 rim attempts per game.
LaMelo's inability to get to the rim makes him a schemable player, especially if he's a first option, and that's something the Warriors took advantage of on Wednesday night.
LaMelo Ball's lack of rim pressure makes the Timberwolves' offense less versatile
The blueprint to stopping Ball is fairly simple: get up in his grill and give him no space to move. Despite his dazzling handles, LaMelo struggles to create advantages on his drives because of his lack of strength and high-end speed. Likewise, this strategy forces Ball into difficult 3-pointers.
He hits these shots at a decent clip, but when the shots aren't falling, his lack of rim pressure hurts the counters that he can provide. This style of defense also limits his drive-and-kick game. When LaMelo is your No. 1 creation option, this is especially a problem. We saw this strategy and these problems play out against the Warriors.
While it got better in the second half, the Wolves' first-half rim pressure against the Warriors caused their offense to be stuck in the mud, scoring just 48 points.
Part of the vision with the LaMelo trade is that Edwards and Ball would cover up for each other's weaknesses. Ball covers up for Edwards' subpar playmaking, while Edwards offsets Ball's lack of rim pressure. This backcourt isn't just dynamic because of their shooting; it's due to their versatility.
Now, with LaMelo being the first option for the time being, he doesn't have this support system to lean on, and that will cause problems for the Wolves' offense.
Even with Edwards not having his same burst during his first four games, he averaged 5.8 rim attempts per game.
In fairness, Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. are both forceful downhill scorers. Their importance will be immense without Edwards. Thankfully, both of them played well on Wednesday. But the question remains: Can Ayo and Shannon consistently be high-level creators without Edwards?
Look, Ball will certainly have better nights than he did on Wednesday, and I don't think this stretch without Ant will be a total disaster. However, smart, physical defenses will expose LaMelo's lack of scoring versatility, which will cost Minnesota some wins while Edwards is sidelined. The Warriors already took advantage of this problem, and they won't be the last team to do so.
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