LaMelo Ball has had a phenomenal preseason to begin his Minnesota Timberwolves tenure. The arrival of Ball has completely changed the vibes inside the Timberwolves' locker room, and the offense looks to be as dangerous as it has been during the Wolves' Anthony Edwards era.
Ball's playmaking and shooting gravity have opened up the floor for his teammates. Edwards has moved back to his more natural shooting guard position, where he can be a weapon off the ball. Jaden McDaniels is consistently seeing matchup advantages as his offensive game levels up, and the pick-and-roll game between Ball and Rudy Gobert has seen growing chemistry.
The only downside with Ball's performance throughout training camp and the preseason has been the number of turnovers. In four preseason games, Ball turned the ball over 3.5 times per game. Given that Ball played less than 20 minutes per game, that number of turnovers stands out as concerning.
While the sample size is incredibly small and preseason stats aren't necessarily indicative of what will happen during the regular season, it will be incredibly important for Ball to limit his turnovers going forward.
LaMelo Ball can't afford to let turnovers remain a concern
Turnovers have been a problem for the Timberwolves in the past. No matter who they have started at point guard, the Wolves have struggled to limit turnovers. In fact, Minnesota has turned the ball over at an above-average rate each of the last seven seasons.
Some of those seasons have been fairly close to league average, but during the 2023-24 season, when the Wolves won 56 games, the Wolves finished with the eighth-most turnovers, a huge reason they finished 17th in offensive rating.
This season, the Timberwolves hope their offense can be top-five—or at least top-10—in terms of efficiency. The only way they can reach that lofty goal is for Ball and the rest of the roster to limit turnovers better than they did during the preseason.
Breaking down Ball's 14 turnovers this preseason, eight were from passes he tried to make to teammates, and six came while he was dribbling or driving to the rim. There wasn't a specific action or play that caused the most turnovers; they came in the backcourt, outside the three-point line and inside the paint.
For Ball to decrease his turnovers, it will likely start with making a more concerted effort to take care of the ball. It will be interesting to see whether the simple shift from games that don't matter to ones that count creates a change in Ball's mindset or if it lingers throughout the beginning of the season.
Ball has always been a relatively high turnover player. During the first five years of his career, Ball averaged 3.3 turnovers per game. While far from leading the league, as Luka Doncic and Trae Young consistently put up more than four turnovers per game, Ball will still need to be mindful of his giveaways with the Timberwolves.
Optimistic outlook
Ball has shown he can lower his turnovers. Last year, in the midst of the best season of his career with the Charlotte Hornets, Ball decreased his turnovers by 18 percent, from 3.3 to 2.7 per game.
There is a level of turnovers that are naturally going to come from any player who has the ball in his hands, as much as LaMelo projects to in Minnesota's offense. Very few, if any, players in the NBA generate a large number of assists but very few turnovers. The two stats are highly correlated.
It may feel like a nitpick to focus on Ball's preseason turnovers over the litany of positives he has brought to the team and the offense, but that is where the Timberwolves are as a franchise. All their draft assets are out the door; the last of them used to bring Ball to Minnesota, and they are trying to win at the highest levels.
The margin for error to beat one or both of the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder is incredibly slim. Each player on the Wolves' roster will need to attempt to be as hyper-efficient as possible.
For Ball, that means taking care of the Ball and keeping his and the team's turnovers under control.
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