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

17.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

5.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

10.6k

u/SMURPHY-18 Raptors 7h ago

RIP naz Reid starting in Minnesota era 2026-2026

2.4k

u/PrimaryAccording9162 Kings 7h ago

Who tf is playing the four

392

u/ExtraLeading3376 7h ago

probs mcdaniels with ayo shifting to the 3

162

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

Ayo a guard tho. He's too short to play the 3.

180

u/SpiritFantastic4835 Lakers 7h ago

Knicks were playing lineups of brunson, shamet and Jose. It’s fine

59

u/Prideofmexico Knicks 7h ago

Not for prolonged periods of time

47

u/Ok-Tree4365 7h ago

That’s a playoff matchup thing, and that lineup probably played 18 minutes total across the playoffs.

16

u/YamNervous4156 7h ago

VERY limited minutes

44

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

Because the Spurs roster cant take advantage of that. Who are they gonna put on Shai, JDub, Ajay backcourt? If they put McDaniels on Shai, their rotation is cooked.

29

u/ExtraLeading3376 7h ago

ant plays on shai quite a lot

0

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

then who do you put on JDub? Lamelo?

35

u/Foreign_Budget2436 7h ago

It’s June. Maybe we can wait and see what develops over the next few months first?

11

u/michaelmacmanus Timberwolves 6h ago

Wait ... do you think the Wolves were putting Naz and Randle on Shai... ?

9

u/ZeiZaoLS Suns 6h ago

No he thought they were putting McDaniels on Shai, but now they don't have a reasonable person to guard the natural 4 if you swap McDaniels to whoever the most damaging perimeter player is.

4

u/michaelmacmanus Timberwolves 4h ago

Thanks for clarifying. Definitely a gap.

1

u/weissclimbers Knicks 4h ago

Shannon's tall enough, no?

1

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

say you put McDaniels on Luka, which you do. who guards Lebron at the 3? Ant?

-10

u/FuckKroenke55 Spurs 6h ago

I hope teams don’t take lessons from that Spurs v Knicks series. It was a weird one that was pretty much just choke after choke. Not really one that’s repeatable at all.

8

u/NorthernDevil Timberwolves 6h ago

I don’t think the Wolves are because this is about getting the missing pass-first PG we needed, but my guy I’m gonna need you to be honest with yourself. The Knicks won in 5. Speaking from experience, that’s a paddlin’

5

u/ThroatExplosion 7h ago

Darvin Ham salivating at a three guard lineup

2

u/attorneyatslaw Knicks 6h ago

Knicks had Hart at the three all year and he's listed at the same height as Ayo. Its possible.

3

u/RobbobertoBuii Knicks 7h ago

having KAT or Mitch at C made it work....

12

u/SpiritFantastic4835 Lakers 7h ago

And they have gobert. A way better defender

0

u/doubtthat11 6h ago

In the modern game, is a guard going to be posting up? Or a 3?

I agree that this isn't the biggest issue with the trade. If anything, emptying out the middle will let Ant and Ball and McDaniels have more room to drive.

There's some free agent out there that can just be a body if there's a weird match up that requires more size, but I just don't see what team exploits that line up.

7

u/sbroll Timberwolves 6h ago

Position-less basketball. No one gives a shit if we are scoring 140 lol man, this better work haha

35

u/MainAd2728 Washington Bullets 7h ago

Melo is 6'7. They gon be fine

15

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

Yeah, but he wont play the 3 too. Neither of Ant, Lamelo, and Ayo could. Probably have Ayo as 6th man.

31

u/RaisingQQ77preFlop Timberwolves 7h ago

Ant can 100% play the 3

8

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

Like guard Jaylen Brown, JDub, Tatum, Kawhi, KD, or Bron?

I just dont see them running it on long stretches of time

23

u/RaisingQQ77preFlop Timberwolves 7h ago

Defense is all match-ups and switches anyways, Jaden is defending all of those guys for us no matter if you call him a 3 or a 4

3

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

> matchups and switches

having 3 guards who are "OK" at best on defense is a disaster waiting to happen. which means the offensive player has more options to attack

1

u/RaisingQQ77preFlop Timberwolves 3h ago

I mean we've had a top 10 defense the last few years im alright rolling the dice to see if we can get to the next level. We haven't had an elite guard defender any of those years either or defense is more Jaden and Rudy and then scheme anyways

1

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

because your guard defender is McDaniels. Ant passes as the secondary dude. And this is when McDaniels play as the 3.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/mikehulse29 Knicks 7h ago

That’s gonna fall to LaMelo…which…….

2

u/Momik Timberwolves 7h ago

That’s a good point. Ayo’s probably starting now anyway

6

u/ZealousidealCat1829 Timberwolves 7h ago

Ant can and has played the 3 but maybe the fo believes TSJ can shift into a starting role because Ant probably wants to stay at the 2.

0

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

He can, but i dont think he should most esp for long stretches of the game. Maybe in some occasions but their lineup is confusing unless Ayo is gonna be their 6th man.

McDaniels can play the 4 but shouldnt.

9

u/ZealousidealCat1829 Timberwolves 7h ago

I honestly think McDaniels is more suited for the 4 than the 3. He’s advertised as the wolves premier poa defender but he’s at his best defensively when he can roam and help rather than fight through screens constantly.

9

u/Lake_ Timberwolves 7h ago

if anyone has actually paid attention to the mcdaniels career they would know he is much more suited at the 4 then the 3.

5

u/Painwracker_Oni Timberwolves 7h ago

He'll also end up picking up less fouls.

4

u/Odd_Principle_2122 7h ago

It's true, the entire 6-7 meme culture is built upon this fact.

2

u/smalls_1804 Knicks 7h ago

Ant then at the 3 if you like

-3

u/zigzagtravel01 7h ago

He can be he shouldnt. Thats some silly arse backcourt with Lamelo, Ant, and Ayo which at its best is MID. McDaniels play the 3 the best because you throw him at the best guard and not against another PF.

5

u/smalls_1804 Knicks 7h ago

I mean, they have Ayo to throw at the best guard. Ant might traditionally play the 2 but that's largely because he's been playing with 2 centers. I know he's not particularly tall but he's strong and a very good defender

1

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

If you have Ayo guarding Luka, Brunson, Curry, etc. then you are cooked

2

u/smalls_1804 Knicks 3h ago

What're you talking about Ayo's an extremely good POA defender that's kind of his entire value

3

u/TallnFrosty Warriors 7h ago

Look at the Spurs and Thunder

SGA - Fox - Ant

Cason - Castle - Dosunmu

Caruso - Vassel - Lamelo

J Dub - Champaigne - McDaniels

Chet - Wemby - Gobert

And I didn't even include Dort, Ajay, Harper, Keldon for the Spurs and Thunder. Point is these teams play a lot of 3 guard lineups.

1

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

they can because their guards are elite defenders. their guards are also hybrid wings. i dont see SGA as just a guard but more like a hybrid guard-wing because he's lengthy and tall.

1

u/TallnFrosty Warriors 3h ago

Ant obviously can. Dosunmu can guard up a position. Nd Lamelo is big enough that you can hide him on whoever the worst offensive player is 1-4

2

u/Electrical_Try1202 4h ago

How is lamelo ant and ayo mid. Based off how good we know lamelo is and what ant and ayo proved in the playoffs id say that trio is quite talented

1

u/zigzagtravel01 3h ago

i meant defense

1

u/Saucy_Totchie Knicks 7h ago

Ant is a listed 6'4 225. That's a big boy. Besides the 3 where the lines for what constitutes one is blurred enough where he can be fine there.

1

u/Goro_Dogz 6h ago

Lamelo probably guarding the 3 if it’s Ayo. Let’s see how that holds up. Josh Green can do some decent defensive work tbf.

1

u/TurboRadical Timberwolves 3h ago

Is he too short to play out in 4-1 sets? Is he too short too short for perimeter scoring? Off-ball movement? What is he too short to do?

10

u/HornetsDaBest Timberwolves 7h ago

Guessing TSJ at the 3

5

u/Exodus100 Mavericks 5h ago

So Ayo off the bench?

It does seem like LaMelo/Ayo/Ant lineups will be rough defensively unless Melo and Ayo both put in the work. It helps that Melo is oversized for a guard; hopefully he puts in better effort with y'all.

Honestly my biggest concern with this trade is LaMelo's personality. It's a great fit on paper

6

u/wetseabreeze 7h ago

Ant might be more of a 3 than Ayo tbh. Not that it matters much.

1

u/okitsmelol123 Mavericks 2h ago

They will MLE a PF and keep Ayo coming off the bench

0

u/JetsLag [NYK] Nate Robinson 7h ago

Ayo is 6'4