The 'Undeniably Serious' LaMelo Ball-Wolves Trade Chatter Exploded Out of Nowhere

Minnesota may be on the verge of acquiring LaMelo Ball from the Charlotte Hornets. How can they make a deal work?

Apr 3, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) brings the ball up court against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

BREAKING: Timberwolves trade for LaMelo Ball, with Naz Reid going to Charlotte. Read the original story below.

The Timberwolves are in serious pursuit of LaMelo Ball, according to a flood of insider reports that all just happened to hit the wire at about the same time late Wednesday night.

"Minnesota's interest, sources tellThe Stein Line, is undeniably serious," Marc Stein said.

Jon Krawczynski, who covers the Wolves for The Athletic, wasn't shocked one bit when he heard, and later confirmed through his own sources, that Minnesota is targeting Ball.

"Feel like a broken record with this but it's true: Tim Connelly will always be inquiring on star players when they become available. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, LaMelo Ball, Jaylen Brown, on and on and on. The pursuit won't end until he gets one," Krawcyznski said.

Krawczynski mentioning Ball alongside Boston's Brown in the same sentence is especially interesting, since Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor is reporting that Minnesota is hunting big-name players.

"Timberwolves are in on a lot of big names right now. LaMelo Ball is not the only one," O'Connor said.

How can the Wolves trade for Ball? There are a couple of logical pathways. First, because the Julius Randle trade with the Brooklyn Nets can't be finalized until July 6, the Wolves and Nets could add the Hornets to the deal to make the salaries easier to match. But that could push Minnesota into the luxury tax for a third straight season.

The other way to get it done while avoiding the luxury tax is a straight-up deal with the Hornets involving Rudy Gobert. That sounds devastating to the defense, but Minnesota's front office has raved about 19-year-old center Joan Beringer. The Wolves could also address the frontcourt defense with the $15.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception in free agency.

Those appear to be the most realistic pathways to a trade for Ball if it's true that Minnesota doesn't want to part with Naz Reid and wants to "do right" by Donte DiVincenzo by leaving him out of trades as he recovers from a torn Achilles, according to Stein.

Ball played in 72 games last season and averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. He shot 36.8 percent from three-point range on 10 attempts per game. While he stayed healthy last season, he played in only 105 of 246 games before that due to a myriad of injuries.

The Wolves' starting lineup and depth would be exciting if nothing else with Ball in and Gobert out.

Starter	Backup	Third
LaMelo Ball	Ayo Dosunmu
Anthony Edwards	TJ Shannon
Jaden McDaniels	Jaylen Clark
Naz Reid
Joan Beringer	Rocco Zikarsky

All of this developed rapidly on Wednesday night, so this could be a situation that continues to evolve quickly as NBA free agency nears.