First edition story from @JakeLFischer and me on the line of trade suitors for
ming for Charlotte's LaMelo Ball: tinyurl.com/4hxz8593
A trade for Ball would certainly do that. The Timberwolves and Raptors are the
first two confirmed suitors, but league sources say that the Milwaukee Bucks
have also registered interest. And there are presumed to be other teams lodgin
g interest with Charlotte despite the 24-year-old's injury history and at-time
s-erratic play.
Minnesota's interest, sources tell The Stein Line, is undeniably serious.
Sources say Ball has been looking forward to this upcoming season with the tea
m that drafted him No. 3 overall in 2020 to try to build off of Charlotte's mo
mentum from 2025-26. The Hornets went a surprising 44-38 this season, only to
fall at the final Play-In Tournament hurdle in Orlando and miss the playoffs f
or a league-high 10th consecutive season.
We're told that the Hornets are nonetheless listening to the offers they're ge
tting despite their recent success under second-year coach Charles Lee and cou
ld go ahead with a trade after the emergence of two players drafted after Ball
— Rookie of the Year runner-up Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller — as fellow
franchise cornerstones.
The Wolves are widely regarded as a team that will undoubtedly be as aggressiv
e as possible this offseason to try to reshape the core around Edwards after f
inances forced Minnesota to let Nickeil Alexander-Walker walk in free agency l
ast summer. Alexander-Walker immediately won NBA Most Improved Player honors t
his season in Atlanta while the Wolves, after a second-round exit to San Anton
io, made the decision to salary dump Randle to create the needed flexibility t
o re-sign Dosunmu and perhaps do more.
Minnesota has maintained that perimeter defensive ace Jaden McDaniels is off l
imits in trade conversations. Sources say that the Wolves also prefer to "do r
ight" by injured guard Donte DiVincenzo and keep the Villanova product out of
their offseason business after he sustained a devastating torn Achilles during
Minnesota's first-round playoff victory over Denver.
The Wolves, sources say, would also prefer not to part with 2024-25 Sixth Man
of the Year Naz Reid, but it is difficult to see how they could construct a cr
edible trade offer for Ball without including Reid or fellow big man Rudy Gobe
rt.
Minnesota's three-team trade with Brooklyn and Chicago, however, cannot be fin
alized until early July after the league's new salary cap year begins and its
annual moratorium at the start of free agency is lifted. If the Wolves were to
assemble a trade offer that convinces the Hornets to part with Ball, it is co
nceivable that the Randle trade could be expanded to help facilitate other tra
nsactions.
明尼苏达灰狼与多伦多暴龙是第一批被证实的追求者，但联盟消息人士透露，密尔瓦基公
鹿也表达了兴趣。尽管这位 24 岁的球员有伤病史且有时表现不稳定，据信仍有其他球队
正向夏洛特黄蜂表达网罗意愿
不过根据《The Stein Line》的消息人士透露，灰狼的兴趣是非常认真的。
消息人士表示，Ball 先前一直期待着与这支在 2020 年以第三顺位选中他的球队一起迎
接即将到来的赛季，并试图延续黄蜂在 2025-26 赛季的气势。黄蜂本赛季打出了令人惊
喜的 44 胜 38 败战绩，但最终在奥兰多举行的附加赛最后关头铩羽而归，连续第 10 个
赛季无缘季后赛，创下联盟现存最长纪录。
根据消息，尽管黄蜂在第二年执教的总教练 Charles Lee 带领下近期取得了成功，但他
们仍在倾听各方报价。在 Ball 之后被选中的两名球员
年度最佳新秀亚军 Kon Knueppel 和 Brandon Miller崛起并成为球队的基石后，黄蜂可
能就会着手进行交易。
外界普遍认为，灰狼无疑会在今年休赛季尽可能展现侵略性，试图围绕 Edwards 重新塑
造核心阵容。去年夏天，财务压力迫使灰狼让 Nickeil Alexander-Walker 在自由市场离
队，而 Alexander-Walker 本赛季随即在亚特兰大老鹰赢得了 NBA 年度最佳进步奖；与
此同时，灰狼在第二轮被圣安东尼奥马刺淘汰后，做出了清掉 Randle 薪资空间的决定，
以创造必要的灵活性来续约 Dosunmu，并可能借此做更多补强。
灰狼一直坚称，Jaden McDaniels 在交易对话中是不可触碰的球员，消息人士透露，灰狼
也倾向对受伤的后卫 Donte DiVincenzo“有始有终”
将他排除在休赛季的交易考量之外。
据消息人士透露，灰狼同样不想放弃 2024-25 赛季的最佳第六人 Naz Reid，但难想像如
果不把 Reid 或另一位大个子 Rudy Gobert 纳入其中，他们要如何建立一个具备说服力
的 Ball 交易报价。
然而，灰狼与布鲁克林篮网、芝加哥公牛的三方交易，必须等到 7 月初联盟新的薪资上
限年度开始、且自由市场开启初期的年度冻结期解除后才能正式定案。如果灰狼能够拿出
一份足以说服黄蜂放走 Ball 的交易报价，那么将 Randle 的交易案扩大以协助促成其他
交易，也是完全有可能的。
https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sources-a-line-of-trade-suitors-is
灰狼可以把Randle的交易扩大丢更多薪资，让他们可以跟原本的交易合并，用四方或更多
把LaMelo Ball带回来
但要看灰狼的报价能不能满足黄蜂，除了Gobert，灰狼还有一个2033年的首轮可以给