The Minnesota Timberwolves not only filled their franchise point guard hole when they traded for LaMelo Ball, but that trade, in fact, opened up more avenues to fill out the rest of the roster with more talent.
They used their remaining cap space, which wasn't much, to sign Jonathan Kuminga to fill their power-forward void, and then, to get under the second apron, they traded Josh Green, acquired in the LaMelo trade, to the Utah Jazz for Cody Williams.
Last season, the Wolves were a pretty slow-paced team with a lot of older players in the rotation. Now, they're one of the youngest teams in the league, and only one of their main rotation players is over 30 years old: Rudy Gobert.
The LaMelo Ball trade allowed the Timberwolves to reshuffle their roster.
The Wolves' offseason moves started right before draft night, when they traded Julius Randle into the Brooklyn Nets' cap space, along with the 28th pick, in exchange for the 33rd pick. They were able to get off of Randle's contract for free, and the only downside was moving down five spots in the draft, where they selected Duke sharpshooter Isaiah Evans. Regardless, Evans was someone who would have made a lot of sense at 28, and they were able to sign him to a second-round pick salary.
Then, they made their big swing of the offseason, trading beloved Naz Reid, along with an unprotected 2033 first-round pick and three first-round pick swaps and second-round picks, for all-star point guard LaMelo Ball. It comes at a price, but Ball gives Anthony Edwards a potentially lethal running mate for the next decade, as they're both only 25 years old.
This move then obviously left them without a true power forward, and with free agency dwindling, Tim Connelly swung a signing for the best free agent forward available: Jonathan Kuminga. The Wolves didn't have the most money to work with, but they were able to give him a starting spot on a contender. They offered him a two-year, $12.4 million contract, using the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Because of this, however, the Wolves were over the second apron and needed to shave off some salary to officially sign Kuminga. This came in the form of dumping Josh Green's salary to the Utah Jazz and acquiring Cody Williams and John Konchar, although they waived Konchar. Williams hasn't been great in the NBA thus far, but he's only 21 years old and has plenty of time to improve.
With Kuminga and Williams in the fold, the Ball trade looks better than ever before.
There were a lot of questions about roster imbalance heading into this offseason for the Timberwolves. Fortunately, the pinball effects of the LaMelo Ball trade have given the Wolves exactly what they've needed, and now they're going into the season looking like one of the NBA's premier contenders.
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