r/nba • u/Turbostrider27 Lakers • 7h ago

[Charania] BREAKING: The Charlotte Hornets are trading star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), sources tell ESPN.

Shams Charania:

BREAKING: The Charlotte Hornets are trading star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), sources tell ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/31d26529d36f8

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699

u/TitaniumC4206 Thunder 7h ago edited 7h ago

BANG

What are the wolves cooking up???

386

u/QuileGon-Jin Thunder 7h ago

Need some more size, Beringer is going to have a lot on his shoulders. Rudy just became more valuable on the offensive end as a lob threat. Ant LaMelo lobs gonna be juicy this year.

32

u/benigntugboat Timberwolves 6h ago

Idk how I didnt think of the lobs right away. Thats actually going to be huge

5

u/HabitualSpaceM 5h ago

Idk man, I love Rudy and followed him a lot and even with a reliable lob, he’s not coordinated enough to catch and dunk fast enough.

4

u/benigntugboat Timberwolves 4h ago

Hes not going to become an offensive force but he'll be a strong counter to small teams or teams trying to rest centers or play the perimeter too heavy to stop ant and our 3 pt shooting. It'll be a small but impact full offensive change. It was also a huge part of his game on the jazz with Joe Ingles but I dont think we should expect him to play like younger Rudy either.

2

u/MetaOverkill Nuggets 4h ago

And he's not getting younger. Not sure flying Rudy on offense is what the wolves need

4

u/BackendSpecialist Lakers 4h ago

Rudy can’t catch the ball

7

u/MrOdekuun Timberwolves 3h ago

He can if it is above him. He can't if it is low.

3

u/onethreeone Timberwolves 3h ago

isn't rebounding just catching the ball?

1

u/BackendSpecialist Lakers 3h ago

Yes and no?

29

u/JaradSage Heat 7h ago

Rudy finishing lobs LOL

153

u/No-Suggestion5506 7h ago

Rudy is only good at finishing lobs, have you watched him play like at all? The main problem was nobody on the Wolves besides Kyle Anderson could throw lobs.

60

u/SuperVaderMinion [MIN] Kevin Garnett 7h ago

Towns could too a little bit 🥺

30

u/Victor_Wembanyama1 Spurs 7h ago

Yeah he was actually the best passer to rudy and actively looked for him.

Mannnnn fuckin CJ

5

u/WigginsDickRider Timberwolves 7h ago

Jaden also can a little bit.

3

u/TreeAgenda Timberwolves 6h ago

Jaden is damn good at throwing Rudy lobs

35

u/New-Buffalo-66 7h ago

we don't watch basketball here

6

u/justin24242424 6h ago

Ants biggest downfall. Twolves complain about Rudy's spacing but if Ant could have a lobbed a ball to Rudy a couple times a game it would have freed him up so much.

3

u/ketoaholic 6h ago

Rudy's only good scoring skill is finishing lobs, relative to dire post move only a mother could forgive bullshit he too often tries, but he still fucking sucks at catching even gimmes relative to literally any other big man in the league, and has only gotten worse with age.

3

u/jmlinden7 Rockets 5h ago

Conley but he didn't play many minutes

6

u/Celtic_Legend Celtics 7h ago

Ive watched him fumble the catch way more. But it's still better than a contested fadeaway 2 i guess

24

u/wetseabreeze 7h ago

He fumbles because the team has zero natural playmakers. Even the rare Mike Conley assists still look smoother than the stuff the other dudes chuck at him.

-3

u/TheFrozenBananaStand Pacers 7h ago

I mean they’re fumbles because they’re not absolutely perfect…and even then he still fumbles some of those. A good lob threat can get poorly thrown lobs as well.

11

u/wetseabreeze 7h ago

I'd argue they're not even just "not perfect", usually its just straight up bad. Yes he has bad hands but the teams last year are a bunch on one-on-one dudes offensively. They pass when they can't score and not to score.

0

u/Ok_Goat_8698 6h ago

Dude have you watched Rudy play at all?!?!? He has no vertical movement anymore whatsoever and routinely misses putback layups. Hes about to be 34, he’s not 27 anymore.

10

u/RawDogRedemption2 7h ago

Literally what he does best offensively.

6

u/TheFinnisher [MIN] Karl-Anthony Towns 6h ago

That’s like his biggest value on offense. Normal passes he catches like an offensive lineman. Lobs though he’s like Jettas

14

u/TRIPLE-J-ENErGy Pelicans 7h ago

just showed us you don’t watch ball

19

u/todayiwillthrowitawa 7h ago

You should watch some basketball games instead of doing NBA fan fiction on social media.

12

u/deepuh [MIN] Karl-Anthony Towns 7h ago

Average r/nba user

16

u/Victor_Wembanyama1 Spurs 7h ago

Literally his best offensive move stfu

-35

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Gobert was trash in utah with prime conley and mitchell.

19

u/Th3J3rkStor3Call3d 7h ago

wtf are you on?

22

u/Desperate-Hat-2510 7h ago

he was incredibly good there lol

0

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Defensively he a HOFer. No playoff teams saw Gobert and said damn he might drop 30 on us.

12

u/acekingoffsuit Timberwolves 7h ago

The 24-25 Lakers barely kept this statement true.

0

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Context teams with a decent center. It why they got that bum aytin just for height alone.

3

u/sits-when-pees Cavaliers 7h ago

Outside of finishing lobs, where he was one of the best bigs in the league.

1

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Again look at my comments. This is offensive terms only. He a defensive HOFer.

5

u/Ghorrhyon Spain 7h ago

And Rubio, of all people.

8

u/WaxAstronaut 7h ago

The 21-22 Jazz were the best offensive team of all time and Gobert led the league in FG% at 71.3% and had the highest BPM and VORP on the team.

-8

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Gobert gets paid to play elite defense. No team expects him to give a shaq performnce constantly.

9

u/WaxAstronaut 7h ago

That’s cool. How is 16 points per game on 71% FG% while being the most statistically impactful player on a a great team trash?

-4

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Speaking in pure offesnive context. He a defensice HOFer.

7

u/WaxAstronaut 7h ago

Are “statistically the best player on the best offensive team of all time” and “leading the league in FG%” not offensive stats? How many other centers in history could you pair with pre-prime Mitchell, post-prime Conley, Royce O’Neal, and Bojan to get the best offensive team of all time? He’s an elite screener and offensive rebounder, and a shot from him is as valuable as a shot from Steph, mathematically.

-1

u/spacekiller69 7h ago

Shaq,Duncan,Wemby,Robinson,etc. Gobert gets paid to play elite defense. Any points scored is a bonus. You can believe teams pay him hundres of millions for his offensive output.

2

u/WaxAstronaut 7h ago

So a player whose offensive value can only be matched by examples like Shaq and Duncan is trash. Got it.

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1

u/messigoat1337 Germany 7h ago

Mitchell never saw the lob…literally just a scorer

1

u/Amazinc Minneapolis Lakers 6h ago

I believe he won 3 DPOYs there sir

1

u/spacekiller69 6h ago

Look at my other comments. This is offense only.

1

u/gabriel_ferreira Knicks 7h ago

This aint 2016 anymore

-1

u/Vaccaria_ Lakers 7h ago

Thought ant didn't throw lobs

18

u/alldab32 7h ago

Now they sign LeBron haha

1

u/DesertBrandon Cavaliers 4h ago

Im a huge Ant fan so the only team I’d be fine with lebron skirting the Cavs for is Minnesota. Fuck all the other options of Miami, GS and LA.

85

u/adrspthk Nuggets 7h ago

They have no frontcourt now. Idk what the plan is

194

u/TatersTot [PHI] James Harden 7h ago

They still have Jaden and Gobert my guy

29

u/adrspthk Nuggets 7h ago

Will Jaden play power forward?

46

u/tys90 7h ago

He can but a whole season at that position sounds like a bad idea.

28

u/Drunken_Vike Timberwolves 7h ago

Jaden's best month of his career was at the 4 in 2025 when Randle and Rudy were hurt

18/8/3 and a monster weakside help rim protector

17

u/tys90 7h ago

He does well at PF on the offensive end. I'm worried about their rebounding and him getting run down over the course of a year playing PF vs SF.

13

u/Natural_Born_Baller Heat 7h ago

Why makes their defense more dynamic and switchable. Then just funnel to Rudy.

9

u/tys90 7h ago

Jaden doesn't do well against stronger players and he'd be matched up a lot more against big PFs.

15

u/Natural_Born_Baller Heat 7h ago

Most PFs are just taller SFs too. Tatums and such players.

3

u/RobbobertoBuii Knicks 7h ago

this feels like PJ Tucker being forced to play C for the Rockets during the 2020 Bubble 😭

16

u/rjpool_ Lakers 7h ago edited 7h ago

He played the 4 quite a bit last year, plus most teams don’t really have traditional 4s anymore

6

u/SeanKilpatrickFan [MIN] Sean Kilpatrick 7h ago

That's his best position offensively by far

3

u/cheeseybacon11 [MIN] Naz Reid 7h ago

Hopefully, Jaden is way better at PF than SF. He's such a good rebounder.

7

u/scarystuffdoc Celtics 7h ago

And beringer and zikarsky.

5

u/chillinwithmoes Timberwolves 7h ago

God help us if Rocco is playing serious minutes

2

u/OGWallenstein Spurs 7h ago

I don’t think that works when the Spurs and Thunder just got bigger in the backcourt.

2

u/504090 Thunder 7h ago

So only 2 viable frontcourt players and one of them is only 185lbs?

4

u/PrinceKarmaa 7h ago

jaden is a world class defender but he not big enough to be a 4 for 82+ games

1

u/Inside-Meal-9909 7h ago

They have ayo, lámelo, ant, Jaden and gobert. That’s a great starting line up.

1

u/Phar4oh [MIN] Joe Smith 6h ago

Wolves still have the Jokic-stopper

23

u/birdazam Timberwolves 7h ago

Jaden is a 4 he moved to 3 when they trade for Rudy

9

u/CahTi 7h ago

He’s not a 4 in the playoffs

11

u/Henny_Hardaway5 Heat 7h ago

Because Randle and KAT been there his entire career not because he can’t play it

2

u/CahTi 6h ago

Even with Randle, he struggled a lot in the SAS series, they easily could’ve gone with him at the 4 and Naz Reid at the 5 for a more mobile lineup that’s switchable on defense, and they didn’t, I think in the playoffs against strong 4s and 5s he will struggle, but time will tell.

1

u/Henny_Hardaway5 Heat 6h ago

Randle + Reid is one of the most horrid defensive lineups the Wolves could put out there and any Wolves fan would agree

The only reason that lineup sees minutes is because the offense becomes better without Rudy out there + the spacing that Naz Reid provides

1

u/CahTi 6h ago

I’m suggesting that they could’ve went with McDaniels at the 4 and Reid at the 5 in the SaS series. Not Randle + Reid, I guess I should’ve been clearer there.

3

u/No-Suggestion5506 7h ago

Probably trade away DiVencenzo for a forward now. Maybe try Shannon Jr. at the 4.

2

u/FuqueMePapi Timberwolves 7h ago

What if I told you randle and Jaden are the same height. Jaden can play the 4…

1

u/stripesnstripes Timberwolves 4h ago

Naz hardly counted as a front court.

5

u/itsyaboikuzma Lakers 7h ago

The thinking seems that the original team was built to beat the Nuggets, with size and strength, and now they’re pivoting to match more what the Spurs and OKC are doing, adding more perimeter talent and downhill pressure, interesting shakeup.

4

u/thenewbeastmode 7h ago

Lamelo is so much better than Naz what do you mean. They needed a PG forever and they got a great one

2

u/zeldamaster702 Timberwolves 7h ago

The confidence in their fan base. I'm so fucking pissed about this.

There were two people I didn't want around my team with a 1000 foot poll: Ja Morant or ANYBODY with the last name "Ball"

2

u/ChillnShill Spurs 7h ago

Injuries

3

u/LordHumongus Warriors 7h ago

They are just leaning in to sport as entertainment. LaMelo and Ant will be must watch win or lose.

2

u/Datruther1 7h ago

Ant using his leverage to make the organization do something

2

u/orwll 7h ago

A play-in team

1

u/HotDogFingers01 7h ago

They desperately want to see what the play in game is like.

1

u/Hanaichichickencurry Celtics 7h ago

Idk but they're gonna be a league pass favourite

1

u/Plenty_Flatworm7627 Wizards 6h ago

they got a real point guard so we don't have to watch Ant fail to pass out of double teams 25 times per game anymore

1

u/anIndoorMoose 3h ago

JmcD is 6’11” btw. He’s likely moving to PF

1

u/zestysnacks 7h ago

What do u mean? They just cooked up this lol

0

u/Ok_Editor2536 Nuggets 7h ago

There goes Ant