Fantasy basketball: LaMelo takes some heat off Anthony Edwards - ESPN

Another big trade in the Association, as the Charlotte Hornets dealt star point guard LaMelo Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday for former Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid and a bevy of draft considerations. Let's dig into the fantasy ramifications of this splash deal.

The Timberwolves have been the proverbial «one hit away» from true championship contention for several seasons now, capable of consistently winning series in the playoffs and even making the conference finals, but unable to get over the hump to make the NBA Finals. Anthony Edwards has developed into an MVP candidate, but the team lacked a second dynamic playmaker to take some defensive pressure off and create easy shots for the rest of the team. They have needed a high-level point guard, and with this trade they are attempting to fill that need.

Ball is a high-usage player and an extremely creative creator with the ball in his hands. He is a scoring point guard that takes a lot of shots, particularly from 3-point range, but he is also an elite distributor that sets up his teammates in position to score. The tradeoff should be a net positive for the fantasy prospects of Edwards, who has been catching major double-teams from opposing defenses for years and should now get better quality looks. Ball could eat slightly into his shot volume, but his scoring efficiency should improve and he may get more 3-point opportunities as well.

Ball played last season next to multiple high-scoring perimeter players, with each of Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and Coby White routinely dropping 20+ point scoring games. So Ball knows how to get his looks while still setting up teammates, and I don't expect his volume to drop.

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