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  "path": "/lamelo-ball-is-headed-to-minnesota-hopefully-not-in-his-car",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-25T16:46:38.000Z",
  "site": "https://defector.com",
  "tags": [
    "NBA",
    "anthony edwards",
    "charlotte hornets",
    "lamelo ball",
    "minnesota timberwolves",
    "trades",
    "received a pittance"
  ],
  "textContent": "The Charlotte Hornets have given up on their goofy, gifted, accursed son LaMelo Ball, who was shipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade Thursday morning.\n\nIn return for their franchise player and Josh Green, the Hornets received a pittance: forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps of dubious value (2028, 2029, 2030), three second-round picks that begin in 2029, and the relief of shedding Green's bad contract. Hornets fans will be rightfully depressed to learn that the player they held in such high esteem netted such scraps on the open market. They can take mild solace in the fact that the Hornets now have a trade exception of over $40 million, and the NBA's second-largest quiver of first-round picks, so their front office can keep maneuvering in the months ahead. But gone is the 6-foot-7 point guard they drafted at No. 3 in 2020, who in Charlotte became one of the most inventive passers in the world, got up an appalling volume of pull-up threes, and infuriated his believers and non-believers alike.\n\nThis move has a certain comic timing: The Hornets had just found their most promising form of Ball's six-year NBA tenure. Charlotte surged in the back half of the 2025-26 season, assembling a couple of impressive win streaks to finish 44-38 and slip into the No. 9 seed. All their young players were gelling. Rookie Kon Knueppel had a historically sweet shooting season, fourth-year big Moussa Diabate broke out as a starter, and third-year wing Brandon Miller thrived on both sides of the floor. Ball, as the lunatic offensive engine driving it all, rehabilitated his value in the league. (Given this trade, imagine how low it must have been _before_ the Hornets went on this run!)",
  "title": "LaMelo Ball Is Headed To Minnesota, Hopefully Not In His Car"
}