Minnesota swaps up to LaMelo Ball

Get in on trade season for half-off!

First-round pick swaps, eh? Are swaps the way to go, after the NBA messed up its draft? Or are swaps what we have left, after every good NBA team traded away every one of its future first-round picks?

Or, are swaps the going rate for stars like LaMelo Ball this summer?

LaMelo Ball is with the Timberwolves now, wow. Traded on Thursday with do-able swingman Josh Green to Minnesota for Naz Reid, three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, and first-round swaps in 2030, 2029, and 2028.

Trading another person – a first-round pick – for LaMelo Ball is one thing. Swappin' picks, however, leaves a little for the eye of the beholder. Swaps add two-to-six more players to judge this deal with in retrospect, to try to explain why in the hell the Minnesota Timberwolves gave a single steering wheel to LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards.