Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes, those desperate measures work out just as intended for the desperate party.
That seems to be the case for the New York Knicks. Back in 2024, they had gone 51 years without winning a championship. They made a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges that completely depleted their stock of tradable draft picks. Two years later, they took home a title.
Now, the Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t give up as much draft capital in their deal with the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball, but they traded all of their tradable first-round picks. They essentially went boom or bust by acquiring Ball, and the Wolves are certainly hoping that it will be seen as the former.
Ball could help the Timberwolves end a drought, much like Bridges did for the Knicks
Much like the Knicks, Minnesota is in the midst of a long drought of not being the last team standing. The difference is that New York had at least won two championships in the 1970s. In their 37 years of existence, the Timberwolves are still looking for their first title, as well as their first appearance in the NBA Finals.
It looked like the Wolves could be on the verge of finally making the Finals after back-to-back conference finals appearances in 2024 and 2025. Instead, they took a step back last season after being eliminated in the conference semifinals by the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder look like two teams that could be thorns in the Timberwolves’ side for years to come as they pursue a Western Conference championship. Something needed to be done because, honestly, if they continued as is, it was hard to see a path to the NBA Finals.
So, they decided that what needed to be done was to trade for Ball. It can be seen as an “all-in” move, much as the Knicks’ trade for Bridges was at the time. The Timberwolves have been looking for a playmaking point guard for years. New York was looking to add elite perimeter defenders to surround Jalen Brunson.
Obviously, it’s unknown whether Ball and the rest of the Wolves will be able to do what the Knicks did in 2026. To avoid falling behind the leaders of the conference, Tim Connelly had to do something. Acquiring Ball is more than just something, and it’s easy to see how their ceiling has at least been raised after the trade.
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