Three weeks into the season, the Hornets’ decision to trade away LaMelo Ball looks baffling.

In July, Charlotte traded Ball and Josh Green to the Timberwolves in exchange for Naz Reid, a 2033 first-round pick, three second-round picks and three pick swaps. When it initially went down, many pundits were skeptical of Ball’s fit in Minnesota. An anonymous NBA scout told Sports Illustrated they didn’t believe the Ball trade made the Wolves worse but they still weren’t sold on the new era in Minnesota.

Well, a few weeks into the season, it’s clear Ball has made the Timberwolves much better. And the Hornets are much, much worse.

Charlotte is off to a nightmare start to the 2026–27 season, even after its surprising 124–112 win at home over the underperforming and seemingly uninterested Cavaliers on Monday night. The Hornets, at 4–7, aren’t among the four cellar-dwelling one-win teams remaining in the standings, but they do have the NBA’s worst offense. What was supposed to be a soft rebuild in Charlotte is looking like general manager Jeff Peterson might have to strip this roster down to the studs. Again. 

The offense is bad. Historically bad. Through 11 games, the Hornets have a league-worst offensive rating of 101.9. They are scoring a league-low 98.8 points per game, which is a whole seven points worse than the 29th-ranked team in Utah (106.2 points per game). But wait, there’s more. Through their first 10 games, the Hornets netted 964 points. No team has scored fewer points over the first 10 games of a season since the 2017–18 Bulls, who were in their first season post-Jimmy Butler trade and won 27 games that year.

The Hornets also rank dead last in field-goal percentage (40%) and have committed the most turnovers (209). They have attempted the second-most threes in the NBA (491) but are making them at a horrendous 30.8% clip, which ranks 28th in the NBA. Brandon Miller, crowned the new face of the franchise after signing a $209 million contract extension, is shooting 26% from deep on over 10 attempts per game. During the Hornets’ best win of the year Monday night, Miller sat out with a right hip strain. So far, he does not look like he can carry the load as a team’s No. 1 option—a role Ball thrived in for years. 

Injuries have certainly been a factor. Kon Knueppel, who gave Cooper Flagg a scare in last year’s Rookie of the Year race, missed the Hornets’ first eight games, then returned for six minutes of action on Nov. 4 and reinjured his hamstring. He’ll be out for at least another month. Coby White is now back after missing seven games, but he’s off to an awful start, shooting 23.7% from the field as he ramps back up.

Naz Reid, the former Sixth Man of the Year winner and one of the most beloved players in Timberwolves franchise history, is off to a great start statistically in Charlotte (17.4 points, 8.5 rebounds per game). But it hasn’t been smooth sailing. In the fifth game of the season, coach Charles Lee benched Reid for the entire second half of a loss to the Pistons for, in Lee’s eyes, failing to meet the team’s “standards” in the first half.

Charlotte does not exactly have an illustrious franchise history. The Hornets have finished .500 or above in just 14 of 36 completed seasons, and have won a total of four playoff series. Charlotte owns the NBA’s longest current playoff drought at 10 seasons (and counting). Last year, Hornets fans finally got a taste of competitive playoff-like basketball. Charlotte started the season a typical 26–31, but after Ball scored 37 points in a win over the Wizards on Feb. 22, the Hornets got hot and finished out the regular season on an 18–7 run. They ended up one play-in tournament win short of the postseason. Charlotte—again, a train wreck offensively this season—ranked fifth in offensive rating (118.4) and 11th in defensive rating (113.5) last season. 

Despite getting that close to playoff basketball, Peterson opted to move on from Ball, citing his desire to bring a championship, not just a playoff appearance, to Charlotte.

“The goal isn't to get to the play-in, or even the playoffs in one year,” Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson said in July while explaining his decision to trade Ball. “I've said it plenty of times since I've been here in Charlotte. The goal is to get to the playoffs and stay there for a long time, and eventually contend and compete for championships.”

Meanwhile, Ball is thriving in Minnesota. The Wolves do look like championship contenders. It’s all sunshine and rainbows in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The Timberwolves’ first three games of the season could not have gone better. Minnesota went 3–0, and the Ball-Anthony Edwards pairing looked as fun on the floor as it looked on paper (and on the team’s social media feed). But then, disaster struck. At least it looked like a disaster. It was announced Oct. 27 that Edwards would undergo surgery on his knee and be out until at least January.

But without Edwards, the Timberwolves are doing more than just treading water—and Ball is the biggest reason for their ability to survive. Over the past seven games without their four-time All-Star, the Wolves are 5–2 and rank seventh in defensive rating (107.8) and 12th in offensive rating (115.5). That has to exceed even coach Chris Finch’s wildest expectations.

Ball is getting the most out of his teammates. He’s been a great partner on the fastbreak with the speedy Ayo Dosumnu, who is putting up career numbers so far with 18.1 points per game. Jonathan Kuminga is playing his role perfectly on both ends of the floor, and for the first time, his financial bet on himself is looking like a wise decision. 

Of the 112 teammate duos in the NBA who have spent at least 200 minutes on the floor together so far this season, Ball ranks in the top seven with two of his teammates in net rating. Ball and Jaden McDaniels boast a +23.1 net rating together; Ball and Rudy Gobert a +21. The only other two stars in front of Ball on that list are duking it out for the early-season MVP award in Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama. 

Best two-man lineups in the NBA (sorted by net rating; min. 200 minutes played):

Wemby and Fox: +34.4
Luka and Reaves: +28
Wemby and Dylan Harper: +27.7
Wemby and Devin Vassell: +26.8
Luka and Walker Kessler: +25.4
LaMelo and Jaden McDaniels: +23.1
LaMelo and Rudy Gobert: +21

— Tom Dierberger (@tomdierberger) November 9, 2026

Defense has always been a question mark for Ball, but throughout his first month in Minnesota, he’s been better than expected. Per Basketball Reference, Ball has a 106 defensive rating. His career average is 114. As of Tuesday morning, the Timberwolves sport the NBA’s best defensive rating (105.1). Ball has played the fourth-most minutes on the team. 

Ball’s older brother Lonzo has noticed his defensive effort, too. 

This the most I’ve ever seen Melo defend lol noticing

— Lonzo Ball (@ZO2_) October 23, 2026

It’s still very early in the season. The Hornets won’t be this unwatchable offensively all year, especially when Knueppel returns. Perhaps they did figure something out offensively against the Cavs. But three weeks into the Ball-to-Minnesota experiment, it’s looking like Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves pulled off a heist.

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