Naz Reid didn’t last long in the free agency market, especially as he was so clear where he wanted to be. The young center desired to stay put in Minnesota and made everyone around him aware that his hope was to remain where he started his career.
Even though a lot of the team’s salary cap is dedicated to their big men, the Timberwolves also had no intention in letting him go.
“I started my career here. I wanted to continue my career here. I’ve gotten better each and every year here as well, so it only made sense,” the player assured. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
HOME: Naz Reid re-signed with the Minnesota #Timberwolves because he didn’t want to be anywhere else! 🙏👏🏀 pic.twitter.com/niPhDDMKdP
— SKOR North (@SKORNorth) July 5, 2023
The 23-year-old just inked his signature on a three-year, $42 million contract with the Wolves this past week, and he is happy as can be. The athlete dedicated his time to the press this Wednesday to talk about his return and what’s to come this upcoming campaign.
Reid knows his role as a reserve will continue next campaign, as the coach gives priority to both Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns as their main starting centers, just as they’ve been experimenting playing with two big men simultaneaously on court.
However, last season Towns suffered a severe calf strain and missed a total of 52 matches as he recovered, giving Reid a stronger rotational role in the squad. The player went on to play 68 games for the Wolves this past campaign and averaged 11.5 points with a 53.7% shot efficiency from the floor.
Many fans believed that he was dearly missed after he suffered a broken left wrist during the final week of regular season and had to be sidelined during the first-round playoff series defeat against Denver.
“Everybody has that feeling in a contract year: ‘What’s going to happen?’” Reid admitted. “I stuck to my roots. They believed in me, and I believed in the program as well. We came together and got the deal done.”
The Wolves want to pursue builiding the team around Anthony Edwards, as he recently signed a five-year deal in Minnesota
Just as All-Star Anthony Edwards agreed on a five-year rookie max deal, the young player knows the team wants to continue building the roster around him. As the famous center partnership between Towns and Gobert might not last as long as their shooting guard’s new deal, Reid becomes an attractive asset as he still has many years ahead of him.
“I can’t tell you how many times throughout this process his teammates were calling and saying, ‘Let’s get Naz done.’ I’m telling them, ‘Let’s get Naz done,’” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly claimed.
Take a look at Naz’s full commentary of how he felt returning to Minnesota after hitting free agency:
This summer, the team’s front office has also dedicated great energy into enchancing the roster’s depth after reaching agreements to retain Tor Brown Jr., Shake Milton and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
“Naz has such a versatile game. His skill, it opens up just so much lineup flexibility with our team, whether he backs up at the 4 or backs up at the 5,” coach Chris Finch shared. “Heck, we might even try to play them all three together, just because there’s so much skill there — and the size.”
