On March 22, 2024, the Minnesota Timberwolves marketing staff had to have thought they were getting ready for any other promotional game. Over the years, they have given away plenty of things: Anthony Edwards bobbleheads with his canine son Ant Jr., bucket hats, throwback howlers, and posters. If you can give it away, the Wolves have likely done it as a promotion.
So, on March 22, against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wolves announced it would be Naz Reid beach towel day. The first 15,000 fans into the building would receive a Naz Reid beach towel. The night itself was pandemonium. A sold-out Target Center waved aqua blue beach towels in a frenzy en route to a 104-91 victory.
Over the following months, the towel appeared just about everywhere. It was front and center waving in the crowd during both nights of Wrestlemania. A picture went viral of a fan bringing the towel to Big Ben. It waved even more overseas during the Rocket League championships, and four months later, there were towels at every Wolves game in the Vegas Summer League.
Much like the towels have become a cultural statement, so has Naz Reid. During the playoff run, a tattoo artist offered $10 Naz Reid tattoos, and signs popped up around Minneapolis reading Honk If You Love Naz Reid. The man has become a Minnesota icon mainly due to his humble demeanor and rise from an undrafted player to a rotation statement, culminating in Reid winning the Sixth Man of the Year award during Minnesota’s Western Conference playoff appearance.
Reid will be 25 next season and entering his sixth year in the league. He’s not yet in his prime. However, based on last season, we should expect Reid to take another leap in 2024-25.
It’s necessary to understand why he should take a leap. First and foremost, Reid should see an increase in minutes as the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, especially with Kyle Anderson’s departure. Reid has played more minutes in total every season of his career, most notably jumping from 1251 minutes in 2022-23 to 1964 in 2023-24 at an average of 24.24 minutes per game. Theoretically, the Wolves could add about four to six minutes to his playing load, especially if the Wolves load manage Rudy Gobert more often.
Reid’s gradual increase in minutes over his career also has not been detrimental to his overall effectiveness. As Reid has played more minutes incrementally over the past five seasons, his true shooting percentage (the aggregate percentage that attempts to weigh three-point attempts with more value than regular field goals) has remained consistent.
Aside from his rookie season, his true shooting has never dipped below 58.8% (2021-22) and has never eclipsed 61.7% (2022-23). Even last season in 2023-24, it remained stellar at 59.5%, despite shooting 2.0 more shots per game. For context on true shooting, Reid ranked 75th in the entire NBA last season regardless of minutes played, which put him behind Donovan Mitchell (74th) and above Jalen Brunson (76th).
Reid has established that his shooting will likely stay elite due to his history of being consistently excellent, regardless of the minutes he plays. I also must note that Reid has also developed as a ball-handler. Even with the uptick in minutes and his expanded role, Reid saw his turnover percentage drop in 2023-24, meaning the number of possessions that ended in a Reid turnover when he was on the floor dropped from 12.7% to 10.8%.
In other words, Reid played 713 more minutes in 2023-24 than in 2022-23, and he had only 19 more turnovers overall. That has resulted in Reid raising his assist-to-turnover ratio from 0.79 to 0.93 last season. We can assume that as Reid continues to work on developing his game this offseason, we could see his assist-to-turnover ratio continue to rise as he becomes more adept at taking care of the ball.
Finally, and most impressive was Naz Reid’s defensive improvement. Reid was shifted from playing backup center to more of a forward position, evidenced by his primary matchup being a forward or guard 87.0% of his minutes.
He thrived defensively in this new role, posting a career-best 105.5 defensive rating and only allowing his matchups to shoot 47.5% from the field and just 35.2% from three. Specifically against forwards, he only allowed them to shoot 43.0% from the field and 27.6% from three. Thirty-four of his 53 blocks also came while guarding against forwards. Reid will continue his upward trajectory defensively next season as he has more time and experience to lean back on.
Naz Reid towels continue to pop up, from a local neighbor hanging one underneath his American flag to being seen at beaches all around Minnesota. Like his towel, Reid has become a Minnesota icon. His game has been one of the best developmental stories in the NBA over the past five seasons, coming from an unknown undrafted player to the Sixth Man of the Year. Still, we should expect that Naz Reid will continue to grow as a player, especially given his past improvements. If Reid is healthy, he could leap into the stratosphere with his popularity and thus push the Wolves past the conference finals.
Here’s hoping we get another beach towel day.
