Why the LaMelo Ball Trade Has Anthony Edwards Poised For a Career Year

The Timberwolves' blockbuster trade for LaMelo Ball is going to do wonders for Anthony Edwards.

There are a bunch of reasons why Tim Connelly and the Wolves took a big, risky swing by sending Naz Reid, a first-round pick, and more to the Hornets for Ball. The primary, overarching justification is that Ball might be the perfect player to pair with Minnesota's superstar shooting guard. Everything the Wolves do is about maximizing Edwards and trying to win a championship during his prime, and this trade is no exception.

With respect to Mike Conley, the Wolves haven't exactly had high-level point guard play next to Edwards in a few years. He's still managed to managed to dominate and play at an All-NBA level, making the second team in 2024 and '25 and falling a few games short of eligibility for what would've at least been another second team nod last season.

But we could see Edwards go to even another level this upcoming season at age 25. Ball is going to be easily the most talented point guard he has ever played with, far ahead of Conley and D'Angelo Russell. Edwards has been frustrated by defenses blitzing him with double teams in recent years, and that's going to become a lot harder to do with Ball also on the court.

An excellent ball-handler and a wizard of a playmaker at 6'7", Ball is very comfortable with the rock in his hands. Edwards will obviously still do plenty of isolation attacking, but he's almost certainly going to play off of the ball more than he has in several years. And everything we've seen from Edwards over his career indicates he's going to shine in that role.

Last season, Edwards took 139 catch-and-shoot threes and made an absurd 49.6 percent of them. That put him just ahead of Luke Kennard as the NBA leader among players with at least 100 such attempts. But despite Edwards' incredible catch-and-shoot efficiency, those shots made up only 27 percent of his total three-point attempts. Over 70 percent were classified as pull-up threes. Edwards has consistently been lethal on catch-and-shoot threes in previous years as well.

Year	Edwards C&S 3P%	% of his total 3PA
2025-26	49.6	27
2024-25	42.1	25.8
2023-24	41.1	31.6
2022-23	41.7	34.4
2021-22	41.3	37
2020-21	33.5	46.6

As you can see from that table, Edwards' rate of catch-and-shoot threes has gone down pretty consistently over the course of his career, despite the fact that he's hit at least 41 percent of those attempts in every season since his rookie year. As Edwards has ascended and Conley has aged, the Wolves have spent the last couple years without a true point guard, instead having Edwards initiate most of their perimeter offense.

That's where Ball comes in. He's going to allow Edwards to play off the ball more and get open as a movement shooter a la Donte DiVincenzo. Ball is one of the best players in the league at creating three-point shots for his teammates, which we saw last season in the success of players like Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller. His ability to penetrate and kick to shooters from all kinds of angles is going to lead to great looks for Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and the Wolves' other perimeter players.

Edwards averaged a career-high 28.8 points per game last season. The addition of Ball — even when factoring in that Ball himself is going to take a ton of shots — could have Edwards poised to average 30 a game for the first time in his career. He might shoot 41 percent or better from three, as well. Mixing in more off-ball usage with his on-ball dominance should perfectly suit Edwards and his skill set as one of the most gifted scorers in the league.

LaMelo Ball, one of the best 3P assist generators in the NBA + Anthony Edwards, one of the best catch & shoot 3P shooters in the NBA...

Match made in heaven. pic.twitter.com/VDnd0bs9p3 https://t.co/kvzDd1UGV4
— Basketball University (@UofBasketball) June 26, 2026

Add us as a preferred source on Google