Anthony Edwards didn’t need another teammate who could simply put the ball in the basket.

He needed someone who could make his life easier.

That’s what LaMelo Ball did almost immediately. Edwards could catch the ball with a defense already scrambling. He could sprint up the floor knowing somebody would find him. He could move through the offense instead of standing above the three-point line while five defenders all stared at him.

Minnesota only got four regular-season games to see what that partnership could look like before Edwards needed knee surgery.

Four games isn’t much. But it was enough to make the fit feel real — and to leave everyone wondering when they’ll get to see it again.

The Partnership Was Starting to Take Shape

The first signs showed up before opening night. In the preseason opener against Milwaukee, Ball was creating chances with his drives and quick passes. Edwards was setting real screens and rolling to the basket, giving Minnesota some guard-to-guard actions they could actually build around with this new backcourt.

That distinction matters. Playing Edwards off the ball doesn’t have to mean parking him in the corner while someone else dribbles.

Make him the screener, and his defender has to get involved. Send him toward the rim, and somebody has to help on him. Let Ball find him after that first defensive reaction, and Edwards gets to make a decision against a defense that’s shifting.

The same idea applies when Ball drives and kicks. The pass doesn’t have to be perfect or flashy. It just has to get there while the defense is still vulnerable.

For Edwards, catching the ball with room to shoot or a lane to attack is a completely different job from having to create that space on his own.

Edwards Was Getting the Shots He Wanted

Minnesota had a pretty obvious reason to want more of those possessions. Last season, Edwards shot 49.6% on catch-and-shoot threes and 35.3% on pull-ups. But catch-and-shoot opportunities made up only about 27% of his three-point attempts.

That doesn’t mean he should stop shooting pull-ups. Good luck convincing him of that, anyway.

It just means Minnesota had an excellent shooter spending most of his nights taking the harder version of the same shot. Some of that comes with being the best player on the team. Some of it came from a roster asking him to do more than it probably should’ve.

Chris Finch said as much when he talked about the Ball addition:

We didn’t create enough catch-and-shoot threes for him.

The early comparisons made the potential pretty hard to miss. Through three preseason appearances, Edwards scored 45 points in 41 minutes alongside Ball, shooting 54% from the field and 60% from three. Without him, he scored 14 points in 21 minutes and went 2-for-11.

Yes, it was preseason. Nobody needs to start planning a parade around 11 shots, whether they went in or not.

But the regular-season numbers point in the exact same direction. Through four games, Edwards posted a 75% true shooting percentage with Ball on the floor. He was shooting 46% with Ball off the court. And that was far from the only area where he got better with LaMelo out there:

The starting group of Ball, Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga and Rudy Gobert also produced a plus-27.3 net rating over 56 minutes.

Those are some really encouraging numbers. But four games isn't much of a sample to go off of.

The Old Habits Hadn’t Gone Away Completely

Everyone's excited about the new pairing — and rightfully so — but they've already shown us that some old habits were going to take a while to shake.

Against Cleveland, Edwards scored 47 points, but he also took 14 of Minnesota’s final 21 shots over the last 11 minutes, including overtime. Ball helped get some actions started, but once the ball got to Ant, it tended to stay with him.

And honestly, when a guy's scoring like that, you get why everyone keeps going back to him.

Still, there’s a difference between asking Edwards to finish possessions and needing him to bail out the entire offense. Minnesota was starting to find a healthier balance. They just hadn’t gotten all the way there yet.

Now that work is on hold.

Edwards underwent right-knee surgery on Thursday. Minnesota expects him to make a full recovery but hasn’t set a firm return date. Initial reporting suggested he could miss up to two months, but some newer reports have said it could end up being even longer.

Ball Can’t Carry the Same Burden

The first game without him showed how quickly the assignment changes for Ball.

Golden State beat Minnesota 119-114 on Wednesday. Ball finished with eight points on 3-for-11 shooting, eight assists and six turnovers. The Warriors could send extra attention toward him without accounting for Edwards somewhere else.

Finch talked about some of the issues after the loss:

I mean, we've gotta help him. They're putting two on him. We can't get a clean pocket around him. And we've got to be able to get him into some actions where we separate people from him a little better.

That’s the part that can get lost in the demand for Ball to step up.

Of course he needs to score more. But Minnesota can’t respond to losing Edwards by handing Ball the same overloaded job they brought him in to help fix.

When two defenders go toward the ball, somebody else has to become useful, immediately. A screener needs to become an outlet. A wing needs to cut. The next guy needs to attack the opening that leaves before it disappears.

Otherwise, Ball's choosing between a difficult shot and a difficult pass while everybody waits.

Ayo Dosunmu's the one you immediately look to because he can take that next pass and keep the possession moving. Terrence Shannon Jr. will play a big role because he can attack downhill.

Wednesday wasn't all doom and gloom. They at least showed that these guys can share the basketball with Ant on the bench. Kuminga scored 20, McDaniels and Shannon had 19 each, Dosunmu added 17.

The Wait Can Still Build Toward Something

Those contributions need to be part of the plan from the opening tip.

The Wolves should keep pushing the ball and creating chances before defenses get comfortable. But playing fast takes more than jogging up the floor and firing away. Guys have to make quick decisions. An early three because nobody created anything isn’t the same thing.

That’s what makes this stretch useful. The supporting cast can build the habits and make the reads Minnesota's going to need when Ant gets back. Ball can learn which outlets he can trust. Finch can find combinations that keep the offense moving when the first option gets shut down.

None of that replaces Edwards. It just gives him more to work with when he comes back.

Four games aren't quite enough to prove Ball's his perfect partner. They were enough to give everyone a pretty convincing reason to believe the fit is very real.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.

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