Chris Finch: Timberwolves have traded ‘moodiness for giddiness’

LaMelo Ball’s fit with the Timberwolves will ultimately be judged by what happens on the court.

Chris Finch already likes what he’s doing to the room.

Ball joined Minnesota over the summer, and Finch said his personality has meshed quickly with Anthony Edwards and changed the feel around the team.

“He’s always in a great mood,” Finch said, via Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Always come in smiling. He and Anthony have a shared quality: They’re really hard to stay mad at. And they do some things that you want to get mad at.”

Finch said Ball and Edwards bring a kind of energy that spreads through practice.

“They have a reflective joy, and I think that’s important,” Finch said. “They tease the joy out of each other as practice goes along. So, that kind of adds to the overall spirit of the group, which we really needed.”

That last part says plenty about where Minnesota has been.

The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, then advanced to the second round last season. But Finch acknowledged Monday that the atmosphere around the team hasn’t always been great.

“We referred to ourselves as a moody team in the last couple of years at times, and it’s probably gotten in our way,” Finch said. “We’ve traded moodiness for giddiness, so we’ve got to kind of get back to some sort of equilibrium. 

“It’s been fun to go to work every day so far.”