Naz Reid is a singular entity.
His meteoric rise from overweight, undrafted prospect to Sixth Man of the Year is the stuff of legend. He is Minnesota’s unquestioned fan favorite and potentially the most popular player on a team that includes Anthony Edwards.
In six short years, Reid has become an untouchable folk hero in Minnesota and is about to earn a fat new contract if and when he opts out of his current deal this summer.
In their 36 years of operation, the Timberwolves have had a sordid history of developing young talent. For every Reid success story, there are the what-could-have-beens with highly drafted players like Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson, Jarrett Culver, and a dozen more flops. Reid will always be a 1-of-1, but a new kid on the block is following the Reid path to stardom.
Jaylen Clark is ready to follow Reid’s giant footsteps and become an unlikely hero in the Twin Cities.
Just 17 games into his rookie season, Clark has already touched the hearts of millions of Timberwolves fans. The former 53rd overall pick in the 2023 draft suffered an Achilles injury in college that caused him to miss all of the 2023-24 season, and doctors cleared him to play midway through this season.
Chris Finch and the coaching staff brought him along slowly. However, Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle‘s injury forced the Wolves to insert Clark into the regular rotation.
Wolves fans had tempered expectations for a second-round pick coming off an Achilles injury. Minnesota had to thrust him into an undermanned rotation on a team that’s been inconsistent all season. But Clark has outperformed even the highest of expectations.
Since the Wolves inserted him into the rotation full-time, Clark has averaged 6.5 points and 1.3 steals in 19.8 minutes per game while playing dogged defense against some of the best players in the NBA. He scored 17 points in a win against the Houston Rockets. Clark had 11 in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers and 14 points and four steals in the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. The OKC game turned sour when Clark went out with a neck injury.
The Wolves have seen all they need to see with Clark and converted his two-way deal to a two-year standard contract. It’s reminiscent of Reid’s rise to power. Naz was a five-star recruit and spent one mostly productive freshman season at LSU before declaring for the 2019 draft. Reid went undrafted for many reasons, including his weight. Still, the Wolves quickly signed him to a two-way before converting it to a four-year contract two weeks later.
Naz had a productive rookie season for the 19-45 Wolves and worked on his body every season, becoming lighter, quicker, and more athletic, which showed in his play. He’s improved every season, culminating in the Sixth Man of the Year award last season and becoming a key cog in a team that went to the Western Conference Finals last year.
Reid has transcended the usual relationship between athlete and fanbase. Thousands of Wolves fans, including my father-in-law, honk every time they see the Honk if You Love Naz Reid sign. He has his own beach towel, some of the best nicknames in the business, and is welcome anywhere in Minnesota for the rest of his life.
Clark isn’t at folk hero status just yet, but he’s well on his way.
His path was slightly different than Reid’s. Clark was also a highly-ranked recruit coming out of high school. He barely played during his freshman year at UCLA and improved every year, eventually becoming a two-time All-Defensive player in the Pac-12. He was the 2022-23 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a junior before his Achilles injury.
Clark is a 23-year-old rookie, while Reid had just turned 20 before his NBA debut. Clark is debuting on a Wolves squad that’s made the postseason three years in a row and is in line for a fourth-straight appearance this season. Reid signed with a Wolves team that had made the playoffs once since 2004, was still licking its wounds from the Jimmy Butler debacle, and had his first season ended abruptly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Edwards and Jaden McDaniels flanked Reid, rising through the NBA ranks together. Clark has Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. by his side. Time will tell if one day Clark etches his name next to Reid’s in the pantheon of all-time Minnesota Timberwolves fan favorites. It will be interesting to see how Clark’s role progresses after DiVincenzo played against the Los Angeles Lakers, and Randle and Gobert return to the lineup soon.
