J Cole shouts out the Timberwolves at his Minnesota show: “Y’all got my favorite n*a Ant-Man in this motherfker… then to make it even more unfair, y’all just got my other favorite n*a LaMelo Ball…y’all gone be a fking problem.”
Am I the only one who thinks this duo won’t work as well as people think
Great entertainment at a bare minimum
On-court or off-court?
Both haha
Yes
On the roads
I straight up think that’s a contrarian take. The Wolves have needed a real PG for a while now. No matter what, Lamelo was always gonna be an upgrade for their roster. Now is it championship level? I don’t know, but they’re going to make noise. Guaranteed
It’s either that or keep trying to run it back with old man Conley lol
He wit us now 😎
That 1 amazing game out of 12 washed stinkers is gonna hit like crack
I’m waiting for Mazz to play him 37 minutes in a random Wednesday night game.
He’s gonna have his random Blake Griffin game this season at TD and we’ll all go nuts
How about Game 7 of a playoff series?
An offensive engine and great passer in LaMelo ball whose main priority won’t be scoring anymore combined with Ant being able to be off-ball and not have to play make as much will completely unlock their offense. Defense limitations for sure but Jaden and Rudy can hide some of their worse flaws
LaMelo isn’t as bad on defense as people claim. The bigger risk is his injury history.
And we have one of the best medical staffs in the league, working with the Mayo Clinic
As long as Lamelo puts in effort on defense (which I think he will with Finch + Ant laying down the law) he will be better than whatever they were getting from old man Conley.
I feel like anyone who has actually watched the Wolves a reasonable amount of games over the last few seasons should know it’s a high-upside move on the floor. Yes, there are injury concerns.
They basically haven’t had a full-time point guard in forever now. They’ve been rotating guards who have SOME playmaking chops but clearly had no business running an offense as a regular starting PG. Conley has been washed for awhile now. For all LaMelo’s faults, he’s a top-tier playmaker and ball handler. He spaces the floor to a large degree too. Ant being able to roam off-ball more freely and play his natural position at the 2 more is likely to be a boon for them. Not to mention setting everyone else up and having another person who can self-create offense. LaMelo can chuck but he’s shown he can take a backseat when other guys really have it going too.
I feel like your average fan doesn’t realize how much Ant benefits from not having to be the primary initiator on offense. He shot almost 50% on catch-and-shoot 3s last year. The problem is that he only got like 150 c&s attempts because nobody could keep the defense honest enough to give him opportunities.
Combine that with the stats from Charlotte last year where almost every Hornet’s True Shooting went up like 7% when LaMelo was on the court vs off. Knueppel shot like 14% higher from 3 with LaMelo than he did without.
I can’t fathom a world where LaMelo is healthy and the Wolves offense isn’t crazy
Lamelo works on every team wtf.
He’s like Haliburton but stupider: pass first pg, who can shoot great from deep.
That’s the best foundation for any offense.
He has his weaknesses on defense, handle, etc but you can’t deny the foundation works.
Lamelo needs the ball in his hands way more than Haliburton does. Hali is way better off ball and actually moves around. Lamelo off ball is like Luka where he’s just watching.
Wtf, do you actually watch the hornets? Lamelo is constantly relocating and moving off ball.
Ant will be the one to play off ball. That’s the point of this trade.
Lamelo needs the ball in his hands way more than Haliburton does.
blatantly false. the Hornets have been at our best when LaMelo is one of many players on offense. He’s a great offensive engine, but he is NOT a Luka/Harden/Trae/Russ type of heliocentric guard by any stretch of the imagination. He moves off the ball very well and should work great with Ant.
I think both Ant and Lamelo are better off ball players than most people give them credit for
The only one in the whole wide world
No, a lot of people who havent watched much of lamelo ball agree. Everyone else knows a guy whos worked exceptionally well with 2 young sgs is going to work well when paired with a superstar. Before that back court is an issue their lack of front court scoring or health will be.
It all depends on Lamelo’s health. If Lamelo is healthy tho, I dont see how it doesnt work.
I can’t see it not working. Ants biggest career weakness has been a good point guard & now he has one.
LaMelo showed everyone last year that he can run a good offense. He just has to stay healthy.
You’re in the very loud (apparent) majority.
I mean I haven’t actually seen that many people think it’s a great fit. Most people are skeptical. And Cole is just pandering to the home crowd here.
High risk/ High reward. Either they have the best guard combo for the next 6 years or its an absolute shitshow, and there’s no inbetween
And either the wolves get a few serious bites at the apple or they move both for enough ammo to compete in a decade
It’s going to take a bit of time to gel but it will
“Who gon stop the Dame-Giannis pick ‘n roll?”
lol
Fuck ya mean duo? We got Gobert’s free top 10 defense. Good luck doubling Ant or LaMelo with Ant/LaMelo/Jaden/Ayo/Donte waiting for the kick out. And yes, Donte will be back for the playoffs.
The second lamelo is out a couple games it implodes (don’t look at my flair)
There’s no way to think it won’t be a significant improvement unless you haven’t seen Lamelo
Or if you think Ant is a Shai/Luka/Harden type combo guard, and.. he’s just not
Lamelo Ball isn’t going to win shit lol they will be irrelevant but entertaining.
Well he said they’re gonna be a problem, didn’t specify good or bad
The bigger issue is that they straight up have a gaping hole at the 4 after trading Naz Reid.
No, I think it’ll be a dumpster fire by the end of year 1.
But they’re his favorites!
the top comment 😂 love to see it
It won’t. Reddit has a weird infatuation with Lamelo so of course they’re gonna think highly of this trade but I predict Lamelo will be on another team in like 3 years
It will be fun to watch one way or another
Why you hatin on Smash n’ Crash?
Why not?
Yea
I don’t really get it either. Unless LaMelo unlocks Rudy or something
It’s not really about unlocking anybody in particular, I just feel like the Timberwolves have clearly been lacking a point guard in recent years because Conley got old.
You got it. Literally having anyone who can handle the ball and not randomly shit their pants and turn it over is a huge boon for us.
I’m not really a fan of LaMelo but he’s going to make Ant’s life a lot easier (and the rest of the team)
It was my same argument for getting Brunson originally when we signed him, even before the breakout series against Utah. Kemba and D Rose both got old, so Alec Burks was our point guard. Burks was a pretty damn good Knick, but that’s not his position.
Obviously nobody knew he’d turn into this, but even before that my argument against detractors of the signing was that we just needed a real point guard for the pieces we had. And he was the best one on the market at the time.
For a long time, I always thought they’d work together perfectly just on my team… Honestly, the only thing I’m genuinely excited to see is people realize how good Lamelo actually is.
It will be a disaster, I’m extremely confident
6-8 seed that catches fire down the stretch and are looking “scary” come playoffs
Loses in 5 R1
LaMelo Ball is so wildly overrated it’s unbelievable. It’s even more baffling to see the random nuthuggers he has. It’s so strange.
Do you watch games and look at stats?
Hoopers know. Dropped Naz Reid/randle to pick up Lamelo hahahah… they gave up their future. Shows the confidence. Gobert looked like a 1st year against Wemby. They regressed, & it was their choice to. They know they don’t have a chance. Owner wants more money before he sells out
and for those out the know, J cole is a NC native
also owns a couple percent of the hornets
And pretty much the best celebrity baller of all time
What about that actor from space jam? Also throw in game blouses as a wildcard
Yeah Buggs Bunny was on fire
Hell nawl airbud clears
Got that dawg is him
The guy who plays LeBron in Space Jam 2 is like 6’9. Im sure that dude can hoop.
I think Prince has legit argument for this title according to stories
this is definitely not true and i’m a big cole fan. it’s probably master P
What about Master P? Pretty sure he was pretty legit in his day. Probably not old enough to have him in your map arent ya?
i also mentioned him. cole made one off appearances in pro leagues in his late 30s, but master p was on the raptors preseason squad
J Cole will NOT be riding his bike in Minnesota
I know this is a “MN is cold joke”, but MSP is actually pretty highly rated for bike infrastructure 🤓
Might be a joke about Lamelo’s driving
Don’t worry he got a driver this summer
True true. But didn’t J.Cole ride his bike around Charlotte all the time when Lamelo was there? Or was that in Raleigh?
He and Melo would get real close
For traffic officers
And baby mamas
Send da video…. And the dash cam footage
It’s exciting basketball at least.
Antman and Wasp is going to be a highlight factory
That’s pretty cool 😎
I personally dont think theyll be that much of a problem but itll be fun maybe.
It’s crazy that since 2025, Luka Doncic, LaMelo Ball, and Jaylen Brown have all been traded away from the teams that drafted them.
All without requesting one
one of jcole’s best verses was (slightly) ruined by him pushing dennis smith jr and markelle fultz
I can’t tell you guys how much I enjoyed this fall off tour. He came to MSG 2x, Barclays 2x. I saw this man 3x in my city! Go see J.Cole and the dreamville team perform an amazing show if you haven’t already
A problem for the PR department.
Is 🥷🥷 too many though?
This guy is in costume.
J Cole ain’t sincere in anyway. They’re his favorites just like he says he is the best rapper.
What’s not sincere about his takes on these two players?
This isn’t really related but markelle fultz and dennis smith jr immediately both got worse after cole sung their praises
Ant is a lot of peoples favorites, he is just pure hoops. And for Lamelo, J Cole is from NC, so that checks out.
He is though.
[deleted]
Hahaha so original
As a long time Cole music and interviews listener I can tell you that 0.1% chance Ant Man and LaMelo are his favourite basketball players. Ant man he probably really likes and LaMelo he fucks with
He means Problem off the court
A problem for who? The coaching staff??
Naive women
“Got traffic cops and child support accountants working overtime”
Not taking etan Thomas’s word on this one.
Yeah a problem figuring out who gets to take the worst shot each possession LOL
LFG!
J “I’m sorry” Cole
More unfair?
He right tho
I can’t take anything he says seriously after he dissed Kendrick and immediately deleted the song from the internet. I like both rappers but what are we doing here
Why is lamelo so disliked on this subreddit? He hasn’t even done anything
Really? Hasn’t done anything?
What he has done that is so terrible? He got some traffic tickets.
Reckless driving not once but twice. Getting sued for unpaid rent. Not even counting his on the court antics “Bam incident.” Blaming coach instead of taking responsibility as well
Reckless driving killed my girlfriend while she was a pedestrian. So fuck Lamelo Ball.
They just don’t have enough to beat the top West teams
Its only the Spurs and Thunder who are clearly a level above, if seeding and match-ups favors them it can take one out without them even having to go head to head. They’d be underdogs but you never know what happens in a long year
We didn’t with the last two iterations of the roster either. Who knows if this one will work but at least the front office is trying. Short of an MVP caliber player appearing on the roster out of thin air it’s incredibly hard for everyone to get past the top two West teams.
Sure dude
Exactly. Rudy can only play like 30 minutes. With Reid and Randle gone Ant is their second leading rebounder with 5.0/gem at 6’4”. They won’t be able to rebound against anyone. And what did they get for it? An upgraded Ayo?
You know who else is a good rebounder? Lamelo Ball
He knows ball
First round exit.
Yeah his favorite is the deadbeat dad
I’m confused as to why people think an inefficient chucker with no defense is gonna solve anything for Minnesota… Well he’s a great facilitator but that doesn’t make up for his flaws and what they lost in Naz Reid imo
Ye idk about lamelo and ant as a duo. Ant will have to defend now.
What do you mean? Ant is a perfectly fine defender. We still have McDaniels for the opponents best player and Rudy anchoring the defense.
You can question the duo for lamelo and ant for sure, but I don’t think Ant’s defense is going to be make or break on if it succeeds.
i think losing naz is the only real concern cuz they need a 4, that’s why i wanted bron to go there lol
If he has expend energy on defence then his offence will struggle. Like in the WCF ant wanted to challenge himself guarding Kyrie and he got gassed and struggled and he said it was a mistake. No superstar guards on a championship calibre team are made to defend the best players. SGA, Brunson, Mitchell all hidden.
That’s what Jaden mcdaniels is for my friend
They will not be a problem lol
u think cole would tell a crowd of minnesota fans who cheered when he shouted out their team that they’re gonna suck and get eliminated by okc?
Thought he was honest and sincere. Plus is he not a Hornets fan? Idk.
0 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0/5 FGM, 8 MIN in his china game then bailed lol.
cuz he realized he’s 40 and he’s also not bron
I’ve seen worse stat lines tbh
They scream regular season monster, early postseason exit but I hope I’m wrong. I want greatness for Ant
Wolves have done nothing but exceed expectations in the post season for like 3 years now
i actually think they’re a clear 3rd best team in the west now
Nah …4th maybe Until they do something
#1 OKC #2 Spurs #3 Rockets
Sneaky 4# Phx Suns
#5 Ant-Man /Melo ( I don’t trust Gobehr)
Rockets and Suns? You can’t be serious 😭
You have to beat them first
Rockets because : We all know they did not have a point guard … and everyone saw how they suffered without a True point guard .. it’s was horrible
Timberwolves vs the phx Suns If the wolves can’t beat the phx Suns current Roster Than You have Your Answer
The Timberwolves have not a had a true point guard either. They then went back to back, with injuries to the WCF. The rockets flamed out in the exact same situation. The actual fuck is this take?
They had an old man as point guard Daphaq you talking about
It’s pretty hilarious to put the Rockets over Wolves on the basis of “until the do something” when the Rockets have proved literally nothing and Wolves exceeded playoff expectations 3 years in a row.
Phoenix at 4 is hilarious. What have they done to warrant that? They barely made it into the playoff last year, and have arguably gotten worse
We talking about the phx suns that made it to the NBA Finals
Constantly retooling and getting younger
These are the facts Beat the Phx Suns 3-1 regular Season then we can talk about the Timberwolves being seeded higher than 5th seed in the West for 2027 playoffs
Phx Suns Sneaky 4th seed
lol the Suns haven’t been to the finals in 6 years and since then have been swept in the playoffs by the wolves
Absolute bath salts take we’ve got here
Flairless redditor drools over the Rockets and Suns
So brave, so brave
Lasağna
How the fuck can you say “until they do something” and then put the Rockets and Suns ahead of them lol
On ……..paper (this guy)
Somehow you’ll have folks convince you the Lamelo/Ant backcourt would be better in the playoffs than Austin/Luka.
Ant and Juluis Randle were better than the trio of Luka, Reaves and Bron sooo yeah I’ll take Ant and Lamelo for sure
This is hilarious and untrue.
I thought lakers fans at least watched their own team. Reaves can be shit in the playoffs
Lamelo has done what now? Austin did fine this past season off injury.
I don’t really how that’s so crazy. Ant and Mike Conley’s last three playoff runs ended up being WCF, WCF, 2nd round.
He averaged 14 minutes and barely started. Clearly they don’t rely on him much anymore.
Not at all seeing how he’s 38 and on the Celtics
Austin has some major playoff questions
He played fine this past playoffs without Luka. Meanwhile Lamelo has done what?
Not wrong on Lamelo, thats what worries me most about trade. Def small sample tho.
But Austin averaged 20 pog on below average efficiency. I didn’t watch a lot of that series, but yuck for an offense only guy.
He came off injury and recovered for some really good games after a tough start.