Those “Naz Reid” tattoos will be relevant long after the ink has dried.
The multi-faceted big man will stay with Minnesota through at least the 2029 season after agreeing on a new deal with the Timberwolves on Friday.
It’s a five-year, $125 million deal for Reid, with a player option for the fifth season.
Reid had a $15 million player option on his current contract that he declined, as expected, before agreeing to the new contract. The 25 year old was otherwise set to enter free agency next week.
But Minnesota was determined to not allow that for the fan favorite. An undrafted free agent, Reid is the best development story in the franchise’s recent history. An undrafted free agent, Reid has taken strides forward every year, cementing himself as part of the team’s long-term core alongside the likes of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.
Reid won the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award and has developed into becoming of the league’s best 3-point shooting big men who continues to grow his offensive skillset. There were times in which the Wolves were short handed this season that Reid was able to flash his ability to have an offense run through him and even create off the dribble.
Where that skillset ultimately leads Reid in terms of on-court trajectory still remains to be seen.
This deal makes it next to impossible that Minnesota will be able to keep both Julius Randle and Nickeil Alexander-Walker while staying under the second apron. But the likely candidate to go this offseason was always Alexander-Walker, who’s an unrestricted free agent with young wing options waiting for their turn behind him.
The chances are, Randle will be on next year’s roster. Which could very well mean Reid is again in a sixth-man role.
That was something Reid noted at season’s end that he’d have to think about. He said he “100%” views himself as a starter in the NBA.
“You grow as a player, you grow as a person, you kind of want to fill in different shoes,” he said. “But if you want to be in a winning position, sometimes you might have to sacrifice. So I definitely view myself as a starter, but things happen, things change. You never know what’s ahead of you until you talk about it and until you go through it.”
At the very least, Reid will now be paid as a starter. The hefty salary shows Minnesota negotiated in good faith in an offseason in which many prospective free agents are expected to get squeezed financially as few NBA teams have legitimate space under the salary cap.
Yet the Wolves seemingly paid Reid his worth, which helped get the deal done ahead of the June 30 start of free agency. That guaranteed a franchise favorite stayed in Minnesota, and paints a clear picture of where the Timberwolves are financially heading into next week’s NBA rat race.
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