Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch admitted this week that the staff asked Anthony Edwards to do too much last season, and it hurt the team when the games got biggest.

Speaking on the Road Trippin’ Show two days ago, Finch candidly stated that the team did a “disservice” to their player by forcing Edwards to act as the primary ball-handler last season.

“We probably did Anthony a disservice last year at times playing him as a point guard, you know, and it kind of caught up to us, and he did a really great job, but in the playoffs it was just double team after double team after double team,” Finch explained. “We need to get him back to his natural position, playing off the ball… didn’t create enough catch-and-shoot threes for him.”

Speaking on the August 6 episode of the Road Trippin’ Show, Finch admitted that Edwards was originally a shooting guard. But with Mike Conley aging and Minnesota’s backcourt depth thin, he had to absorb much of the primary playmaking load in 2025.

He still produced good numbers, averaging 28.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game.

But Minnesota couldn’t generate enough catch-and-shoot three-point shots for him because he was too often the one bringing the ball up rather than moving without it.

Minnesota managed to survive the regular season, but once the playoffs arrived, the effect of that burden became evident.

Edwards was already dealing with a left-knee bone bruise and hyperextension from the Denver series, and the Wolves were forced to keep asking him to carry the offense through traffic and double teams.

Minnesota eventually fell in six games to San Antonio in the second round.

That failure is exactly why the front office traded for LaMelo Ball this season, a true point guard from Brooklyn. And it seems Chris Finch is already seeing the difference. 

What LaMelo Ball Brings to Minnesota

The Charlotte Hornets sent LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota in a blockbuster trade for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps, and three second-round picks.

The deal gives the Wolves a true point guard, which is something Finch said the team badly needed. Ball averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 72 games last season, and he finished second in the league with 272 made threes.

Finch also pointed to Ball’s effect on teammates, citing the point guard’s impact on Charlotte shooter Kon Knueppel, saying Knueppel shot 7% better from three when Ball was on the floor.

“When you look at LaMelo’s numbers when he’s on the floor with his teammates, in terms of efficiency and production, for example, Kon Knueppel shot 7% better from three when LaMelo was on the floor compared to when he wasn’t,” Finch said in the same interview. “That’s a huge statistic for a great shooter. And obviously LaMelo is a phenomenal talent individually as well. We needed that glue. We needed a point guard.”

Last season, Minnesota was below average in both pick-and-roll volume and pick-and-roll efficiency, ranking 21st in both categories, according to Synergy Sports.

That was a big drop from two seasons ago, when the Wolves scored 1.006 points per pick-and-roll, the sixth-best mark in the league. Mike Conley was the engine then, and his two-man work with Rudy Gobert produced 1.05 points per possession in pick-and-roll action during the 2023-24 season.

Ball gives Minnesota a real chance to get that back. He ran 11.8 screen-and-rolls per game last year in Charlotte, fourth-most in the NBA, and scored .994 points per possession on those plays.

That kind of ball handling the Wolves have missed since Conley’s role shrank.

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