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Timberwolves’ Naz Reid: ‘I would love to stay in Minnesota, but it’s a business’

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James Foglio
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James Foglio Sports Editor

James is a Basketball Insiders contributor. He earned his bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. James enjoys watching sports and helping gamblers win money.

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Sports Editor

Updated16 Jun 2023

Minnesota Timberwolves Naz Reid I would love to stay in Minnesota, but it's a business

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid is now an unrestricted free agent, and the 6-foot-9 big man is keeping his options open this offseason. The LSU product is expected to receive a full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which ranges from $10.5-11 million. In July 2019, Reid’s two-way contract was converted into a four-year, $6.12 million deal.

“Leaving them would be a little heartbreaking, but they understand as well,” Reid told the Minnesota Star-Tribune in a Zoom interview Thursday. “Obviously we’re trying to push the opposite way to stay together. They’ve tried. I’m hanging out with them all the time. We’re getting closer and closer, so it would be hard for me to leave those guys.”

According to a couple of NBA betting sites, the Timberwolves hold 16th-shortest odds to win next season’s championship in 2024. Check out which sportsbooks are giving the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, and Sacramento Kings better odds.

 

“I don’t really know what to expect,” the Timberwolves center said of his future. “Everything is coming left and right and it’s just like, I don’t know, I’m ready for the time to come, because I don’t know what to expect. I definitely would love to stay back in Minnesota, for sure.

“But it’s a business, and everything has to play out for both parties. … Whatever we can do for me to be back in Minnesota would be lovely, but I also feel like I’ve grown to a higher role or situation than I was in, in the beginning of the year.”

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid enjoys playing in the North Star State, but he understands the NBA is a business and can make no promises of staying put

Reid made 11 starts in 68 appearances with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022-23 season. He averaged career highs of 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Along with logging 1.1 assists and 18.4 minutes per game, the center shot a career-best 53.7% from the field.

In the Timberwolves’ 109-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 26, Reid scored a career-high 30 points in 37 minutes as a starter. He also recorded nine boards, three assists, five steals, and two blocks while shooting 12-of-22 (54.5%) from the floor and 4-of-11 (36.4%) outside the arc.

 

Additionally, in Minnesota’s 135-128 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 3, the New Jersey native scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds. He finished 6-of-12 (50%) shooting from the field in 30 minutes off the bench as well.

During the fourth quarter of a 107-100 loss vs. the Phoenix Suns on Mar. 29, Naz Reid suffered a left wrist injury. Two days later, the Timberwolves diagnosed the center with a left scaphoid fracture of his left wrist and ruled him out indefinitely. Reid was inactive for the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

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