LaMelo Ball is emerging as the next star who may be traded in the NBA, with reports flying over the future of the Charlotte Hornets guard including interest in a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves are seemingly looking to pair Ball with superstar Anthony Edwards, creating a painful irony for the Golden State Warriors considering the guard pair were split by James Wiseman at the 2020 NBA Draft.
Timerwolves interest in LaMelo Ball creates painful Warriors reminder
Reports of the Timberwolves' interest in Ball have now come from multiple sources, including from NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer only shortly after the conclusion of the NBA draft on Wednesday night.
The Hornets are reportedly listening to calls but aren't offering Ball themselves, having just completed a season where the former third overall pick rewrote his reputation in leading a surging Charlotte team who narrowly missed the playoffs.
After three-straight injury plagued years where he combined to play just 105 games, Ball made 72 appearances for the Hornets this past season and averaged 20.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 36.8% from 3-point range.
The Timberwolves and Raptors have emerged as two of the teams with trade interest in Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball, league sources tell @JakeLFischer and me.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 25, 2026
More to come … pic.twitter.com/Sf5Ik7vAj2
The Warriors could have drafted Ball with the second overall pick six years ago, but instead chose to go with Wiseman which has resulted as a collosal mistake even despite Ball's up-and-down career to this point.
Edwards, the number one pick ahead of Wiseman and Ball, has gone onto become one of the best young players in the league as a 4x All-Star and 2x All-NBA player before the age of 25.
Warriors fans will only be more frustrated with potential LaMelo-Ant duo
Golden State could have traded up to take Edwards or simply have taken Ball, only to select Wiseman who would go down to be their biggest individual front office mistake of the past 15 years. After some positive early signs, Wiseman would appear in only 60 games for the franchise before being traded to the Detroit Pistons midway through his third season.
After a stint with the Pistons and a couple of seperate opportunities with the Indiana Pacers, Wiseman is now out of the NBA after less than six seasons and faces an uphill battle to ever make it back to the league.
The potential of seeing Edwards and Ball on the same team will only provide Warriors fans with an even greater reminder of the Wiseman mistake, offering more frustration over a decision that continues to haunt them over half a decade on.
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