Both Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball were selected in the 2020 NBA Draft. Therefore, the new backcourt partners are both entering their seventh seasons. They were selected first and third, respectively, back in 2020.
Despite their similar NBA experience, Edwards has logged far more minutes than Ball. ESPN’s Zach Kram wrote about the statistic that could swing every NBA team’s 2026–27 season, and for the Wolves, that statistic is the number of regular-season minutes Edwards has played compared to Ball.
“One important gap separates the players’ NBA trajectories thus far,” Kram writes. “Edwards has played 6,008 more regular-season minutes than his new teammate. That's the equivalent of roughly 200 extra games at a starter's workload."
For Minnesota to approach its ceiling, the gap in minutes played by its backcourt can’t stay that extreme.
The trade can’t pan out if Ball isn’t on the floor
Edwards playing 6,008 more minutes over six seasons than Ball allows for easy math: about 1,000 more per year.
Now, that doesn’t even account for the playoffs. Edwards has appeared in 10 postseason series thus far, totaling 1,984 minutes. Ball never appeared in a playoff game while with the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s safe to say that things didn’t go as Minnesota hoped if Edwards totals 1,000 more minutes during the regular season than Ball in 2026–27. The Timberwolves didn’t trade a franchise icon in Naz Reid, along with draft capital (and salary-dump Julius Randle), just to see their new star point guard often unavailable on the sidelines.
Edwards should be expected to receive more minutes per game than his backcourt counterpart. Last season, Ant-Man played 35 minutes per contest, marking the fourth straight year in which he reached that total.
Meanwhile, Ball played a career-low 28 minutes per night in his last year with Charlotte. That was intentionally done to keep him healthy, and it mostly worked, as he made 72 appearances. There has been no word on how much Chris Finch wants him to play this year, and while I expect his minutes to increase, I don’t believe they will go up to 35 per game.
Keep in mind, though, that Ball had been coming off a three-season stretch in which he played a total of 105 games. Throughout his career, he has experienced a lot of ankle issues, among other ailments. Not being able to suit up would create the same point guard issues that the Timberwolves had last season.
Of course, what’s most important is having Ball ready to go for what should be his first postseason run. The more time he misses, though, the less likely it is that the Timberwolves will end up with a regular-season record that will give them one of the top three or four seeds in the Western Conference.
Add us as a preferred source on Google