The Minnesota Timberwolves trading for LaMelo Ball was met with some criticism. One of the main reasons for this criticism is that he isn't perceived as a winning player. I get it to some extent. Ball's shot selection, general decision-making, and defensive commitment are all subpar at best.
However, the reality is that Ball's Charlotte Hornets were never built to win and at 24, he has plenty of time to shed this label.
Shortly after the trade went down, ESPN's Shams Charania confirmed that LaMelo knows what's at stake and is ready to play with Anthony Edwards.
"LaMelo Ball is very excited to go play with Anthony Edwards to try to win championships. He knows the task at hand," Shams said.
LaMelo Ball can evolve his game
While I totally understand some of the critiques about LaMelo's game, we've never seen him in a winning situation.
For years, there were similar concerns about Karl-Anthony Towns' ability to impact winning basketball. Towns shut down these concerns, going to the conference finals with the Wolves and, of course, eventually on a championship-winning team with the New York Knicks.
Towns and Ball are different players. Nevertheless, Towns should serve as a blueprint that you can change narratives around your game and evolve into being a "winning player" in the right situation. And without a doubt, the Wolves are the perfect landing spot for LaMelo to shut down this narrative.
He is walking into a team that has been to two conference finals in three years. Winning is the standard. Poor decision-making and taking plays off on defense won't be as accepted as they were in Charlotte.
Ball seems to understand this based on Shams' comments.
The roster context here is also important. Ball has never played with someone close to Anthony Edwards' level -- this pairing will be mutually beneficial. Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert can also cover up for LaMelo on defense.
These factors can surely help Ball evolve his game and, in turn, prove that he's a winning player. Overall, I feel confident saying he will transform his game for the best.
Ball proved that he can play winning basketball this past season
Another thing that gets lost about the narrative around Ball is that he did prove himself to an extent last season. Since the turn of the calendar, the Hornets ranked second in net rating and were a game away from making the playoffs.
This past season, Ball played his most mature and refined basketball. He statistically took a step back, averaging 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds. However, that's a good thing because he showed he is comfortable deferring to other players, in this case, Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller.
Sure, Ball still has some lapses in the decision-making department, but he showed some genuine improvement in this area.
With a better roster around him, Ball can lean into his playmaking a bit more. He's undoubtedly a brilliant passer and since he'll be leaned on as a scorer a bit less, the best part of his scoring can be seen while the bad parts of his shot-selection can be covered up.
And again, we saw some real improvement from Ball this past season.
Now, a promising stretch with the Hornets doesn't definitively prove that LaMelo can be a high-impact winning player, but it should provide some clear hope that this can be the case.
