Before Naz Reid’s exceptional pre-season, it looked like his long reign over the Minnesota Timberwolves’ backup center position may have been coming to a close. Reid has dominated the role since arriving in 2019, and it looked like he wouldn’t give it up for some time.
However, he had a career-low in minutes and points per game last season. Reid’s control over the role was fading. Luckily for Reid, there was no clear successor on the roster last season. Even though the Wolves rostered Nathan Knight last season, he didn’t seem ready for real NBA minutes yet.
Many thought this would be the year Knight broke out and propelled himself past Reid. But Naz fought back, averaging 15 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Although he’s changed his narrative quite a lot over these past few preseason games, it’s still important to remember his struggles last season — specifically rebounding.
A backup center’s rebounding ability is the most critical aspect of their game. And as any high school basketball coach will tell you, it’s all about the fundamentals: boxing out.
Looking at the chart above, it seems impressive that Reid can rebound at such highly contested rates. That is until you realize that the chart isn’t measuring only the rebounds he grabs – it’s every rebound attempt. Therefore, all of his successful and unsuccessful rebounds are at a rate near 70%. That’s fine if you’re Jarrett Allen or Myles Turner because they’re 6’11 with a 7’6 wingspan. But for Reid (6’11”, 7’0” wingspan), his lack of boxing out becomes a problem.
Knight (6’10”, 7’2” wingspan) has a similar wingspan and height, but he uses his body differently. Even though Knight has a smaller build for a center, Knight seems to have a knack for rebounding over taller defenders. Knight displayed that in the game versus the Heat.
Dewayne Dedmon (7’0”) is in a good position to grab this rebound right over Knight’s head. But Knight gets low to push Dedmon back, then jumps up at the perfect time to snag the ball from Dedmon. You’ll never see these things on a stat sheet, yet they define a player’s game.
On the offensive end, Knight should look to use his superior athleticism to boost himself into the rotation. He’s quick on the offensive end, allowing for more dribble drives and better play off the dribble when he finds himself with the ball outside the paint. Although he clearly lacks Reid’s three-point accuracy.
Minnesota’s 1st quarter rotation against the Los Angeles Lakers is the perfect example of how the Wolves’ roster will be rotated. The lineup started with:
Chris Finch’s first substitution was Jaylen Nowell for McDaniels. Although it was a bit early due to foul trouble, you can likely expect to see that all season. Then Gobert and Russell subbed out midway through the first. That left Edwards and Reid out there until the end of the first quarter when Gobert and DLo came back out onto the floor.
Now imagine that rotation with Karl-Anthony Towns instead of Naz Reid, and you have Minnesota’s regular season rotation.
For Reid, this means we’ll rarely see him defending opposing 5s because it doesn’t seem there will be many minutes without one of KAT or Gobert on the floor. But Reid hasn’t seemed up to the task of guarding 4s this preseason, he’s been a bit too slow.
On the other hand, Knight has been capable of guarding other 4s. His natural athleticism allows him to use his lateral quickness to stay in front of faster, smaller players.
Like any other player, Reid and Knight have their strengths and weaknesses. Reid has struggled to rebound and defend smaller players. While Knight hasn’t been as consistent as Reid, nor has he shot as well behind the arch.
Both players have shown their weaknesses, but their incredible performances have shown why they deserve to be in an NBA rotation. With a roster loaded with center talent, it’ll be challenging for the Wolves to decipher their rotation. Towns and Gobert are obvious 35-plus minute players, but coach Chris Finch has a difficult decision coming up.
Finch hasn’t been shy with experimentation in these situations, last season we saw Jordan McLaughlin and Nowell swapping roles for long stretches of the season. Expect a similar situation between the two backups this year.
Reid has been a staple in the Wolves roster for a long stretch now, but with Knight’s breakthrough his role is finally being challenged. Don’t be surprised if Knight is firmly in the rotation by the trade deadline.
