An inside look at how Timberwolves secured Naz Reid at free-agency buzzer ·

16 Jun 2024, 00:00

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Once the NBA Draft was over, there was no time for the Minnesota Timberwolves to relax. With the opening of the market right around the corner, it was time to get down to business with their most important free agent-to-be.

In his fourth season in Minnesota, Naz Reid has emerged as a potent weapon off the bench, a reliable starter when one of the team’s max-salary big men was out and a symbol of what the Timberwolves want to be: a tireless worker who reaches new heights after joining their ranks. As contract talks picked up again post-draft, sources familiar with the process told The Athletic, the Timberwolves and Reid were still millions apart. Then a call came from the top of the organization.

“Get it done,” owner Glen Taylor instructed his front office.

Taylor and his partners, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, did not want Reid to get to free agency, where several teams were waiting and could offer the 23-year-old more money or more playing time and a bigger role. The three of them consulted with president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and head coach Chris Finch and concluded that they couldn’t let a player of Reid’s work ethic, skill level and desire to remain in Minnesota leave.

In four years since signing as an undrafted rookie free agent, Reid had become one of the organization’s greatest player development stories. He came to Minnesota an overweight big man with a raw skill set and an injured foot. By the end of his fourth season, he was a lean, mean, dunking machine who had dropped 30 pounds to become a real problem for opposing big men and a fan favorite at home.

Taylor and his wife, Becky, have grown to become huge fans of Reid themselves, watching him grow up in front of their eyes from a G League center into an important part of the Timberwolves rotation. Over the last two seasons since joining the ownership group, Lore and Rodriguez quickly came to respect what Reid meant to their team and understood how important it was to keep him, even if it meant paying a premium.

With the ownership group fully on board, Connelly re-engaged with Reid and his representatives, Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz from Excel Sports Management, for one final push to get a deal done. On Sunday, the two sides came to terms on a three-year, $42 million deal that includes a player option for the final season.

For Reid, it was a big win for a backup big man to get a significant contract even with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in front of him. The player option allows him the ability to become a free agent in just two years, giving him another opportunity for a big contract before he turns 26 years old. That was enough to ease any concerns about his role with Towns and Gobert on the roster ahead of him.

For the Timberwolves, it was a win because they secured the services of a young, talented player despite having two more highly-paid players at his position. Reid was just days away from hitting the free-agent market as one of the most coveted big men available. Teams like San Antonio and Sacramento had money and playing time to burn, but Reid chose to sign and stay in Minnesota. That show of faith says something for a team that is trying to alter a long-held perception of it as a place players look to avoid rather than long to stay.

The deal was the culmination of talks between the Timberwolves and Reid that started last summer, almost immediately after Connelly was hired to take over the front office. In the early stages, it was difficult to put a value on Reid, who had displayed an impressive work ethic and commitment to reshape his body and improve his game during his first three seasons in Minnesota. But by July, the Wolves had traded for Gobert, giving them two max salary centers on their roster in front of Reid, so how much could they responsibly play him while committing so much money and playing time to Gobert and Towns?

Reid remained in Minnesota for most of the summer to prepare for a pivotal season. When he showed up to training camp in the fall, it was clear right from the outset that he meant business. He showed off an improved handle that allowed him to break down players from the perimeter and drive to the hole. He shot it from 3 at a higher volume and maintained his accuracy, a big effort from him to prove he could share the court with Gobert. And his constant work on his body had produced the most athletically explosive version of Reid that we have seen, his dunks punctuating camp practices while Towns and Gobert watched with injuries.

“I had no idea ’til I played here that he was this good,” veteran Austin Rivers said early in the season. “But I knew in training camp, like after the first day. I called my father (coach Doc Rivers); I called a whole bunch of people this entire season. I was like, ‘Yo, this dude is like a big-time player, like a starting 5.’”

He delivered his best season, averaging career highs in points (11.5), rebounds (4.9) and field-goal percentage (.537). In his 11 starts, those numbers jumped to 16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. The Timberwolves were 7-4 in those games.

Reid put up some monster nights this season, including 26 points and eight rebounds in a win over Atlanta, 30 points, nine rebounds and five steals in a loss to Golden State, 24 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in a win over the Warriors and 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Dallas. But it wasn’t just the stats that endeared him to fans. It was how he piled them up that got their blood flowing.

He is one of the most ferocious dunkers on the team.

NAZ REID. ON HIS HEAD 🤯

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 28, 2023

He can step out and hit the 3 in big moments.

BIG TIME SHOT.

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 28, 2023

He makes quick decisions to keep the offense from getting stagnant, a recurring theme when he’s not in the game.

that ball movement thoooo 👀

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 20, 2022

And oh that handle …

LET'S GO NAZ

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 2, 2023

“I always thought that Naz was super nice and then I ended up on a team with him and I’m like, that’s crazy. He’s the truth for sure,” Anthony Edwards said.

There is a different kind of energy when Reid enters a game. His slick handle, explosiveness at the rim and nonstop movement endear him to teammates who have played with him for three years or three weeks.

“I thought he was good playing against him but I didn’t know his bag, he has such a variety in his bag,” Mike Conley said not long after coming over from Utah in a trade. “He can just do so many different things. He’s like a guard at his position.”

All of the work Reid put in on his game was geared toward convincing the coaching staff that he could be more than a small-ball center. He wanted to prove he could play alongside Towns or Gobert, hold up defensively and be versatile enough offensively to make the pairing work. He was firmly in the middle of the Timberwolves’ best stretch of the season — four straight wins at New York, against Atlanta and at Golden State and Sacramento — in March that had the team believing it was primed for the playoffs. Then he broke his wrist and missed the final five games of the regular season and the playoffs, and teammates lamented his absence in the five-game loss to Denver.

The fan base seems to love Reid even more than his teammates. There is aespect and admiration woven into a story like Reid’s, an appreciation for the work he has put in, starting with former head coach Ryan Saunders and Iowa Wolves coach Sam Newman-Beck and carrying on through Finch and assistants coaches and player development specialists Kevin Hanson and Joe Boylan.

Even on a team with the ultra-popular Edwards, Reid has been the most meme-able Timberwolves player. Every highlight play is met with a simple, two-word response that is meant to imply that nothing more needs to be said.

Naz Reid.

NAZ REID.

1️⃣1️⃣ »

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) June 21, 2023

There certainly are things that Reid needs to work on to make sure the Timberwolves get the most for their money. He needs to rebound more consistently after only having four double-digit board games in 68 appearances last season. He needs to foul less on defense and he is one of many Timberwolves who could ease up on complaining to officials.

The $14 million average annual value was likely slightly higher than the Timberwolves initially wanted to pay, especially given the presence of Towns and Gobert in the frontcourt ahead of Reid on the depth chart. Towns is one year away from beginning a four-year $254 million contract extension. Gobert is entering the third year of his contract and will make $41 million next season. All told, the Wolves will pay three big men about $90 million next season.

With the new collective bargaining agreement, and the steeper financial and team-building penalties for teams that exceed the luxury tax, set to take effect for 2024-25 and anticipated lucrative extensions for Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, the Wolves’ pocketbooks are going to be put to the test.

It is hard to imagine how the Wolves can keep Gobert, Towns and Reid, pay Edwards and McDaniels and avoid being a routine participant in the luxury tax. The first impression is that one of the big men will eventually have to go. Connelly and Finch have said all summer that they prefer to run it back with the same core, and that included Reid with Gobert and Towns, who missed 52 games last season with a calf injury. They want to see this group together fully healthy to determine just how far it can go.

Whether it’s this summer, sometime before the February trade deadline during the season or next year leading up to the draft, it seems like the Wolves will have a decision to make. There is plenty of time to let things play out and let more information present itself. Given how short Reid’s new deal is, maybe he is the one that gets moved along. Maybe it’s Gobert, maybe it’s Towns or maybe the Wolves swallow hard and pay the tax for a few years if they think they can make a run in the playoffs.

All of that will play out in due time. For now, the Wolves view this as a time to celebrate. Ownership, the front office and coaching staff can revel in knowing that a player who was days away from free agency decided to forego an opportunity at a big payday or a bigger role. Teammates who marvel at his skill set and mixtape know Reid is going to be there to help them in a daunting Western Conference. Fans who have been cheering for him can rest easy knowing that No. 11 will be back on the floor next season.

How do you sum up so much excitement in a more succinct fashion?

Naz Reid.

(Top photo of Naz Reid: David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images)

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