Naz Reid spun the ball behind his back, getting around Dallas Mavericks guard Brandon Williams as he raced down the floor in transition.
The Target Center crowd oohed and aahed.
Daniel Gafford, 6’10”, stood between Reid and the rim. Instead of flipping in one of those fancy layups that Reid has been finishing for most of his life, the 6’9” forward went right at and over Gafford, throwing in the loudest dunk of his NBA career.
At the 1:50 mark of the first quarter, Reid injected the hometown fans with a buzz that persisted for the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 122-111 win over Dallas. Reid is no stranger to pulling off the type of plays that spark a roar from the fans who love him so dearly. The fans who yell louder when he checks into the game than any other player.
Whether it be via a nasty crossover, a pull-up three that hits nothing but net, or a forceful slam, Reid can spark a jolt of excitement with one play. He wants to get back to completing those plays more often.
However, Naz Reid is in the middle of a career season, not because of loud scoring moments, but because he’s doing everything else in between those moments at a higher level.
On Friday against the Mavs, Reid scored 21 points off the bench in 30 minutes. He shot 8 of 14 from the floor and 4 of 8 from deep. That’s par-for-the-course for the former Sixth Man of the Year. It was the 30th time since 2023 that he’s scored 20 or more points in a game coming off the bench, the third most league-wide in that span.
Las Vegas favors Reid to take home 6MOTY honors again this season. If he does, Reid would become the sixth player in NBA history to win the award more than once. Reid has his sights set on it, but knows what must come before the hardware.
“Yeah, for sure. I need another one,” Reid said. “But that comes with winning. We’ve got to win as well. I think those two things go hand in hand. Winning, and obviously having that award. Obviously, I want to have another one in my possession.”
Reid scored his way to the 6MOTY trophy in 2023-24. He averaged 13.5 points in 24.2 minutes on 47.7% from the floor and 41.4% from deep, settling into a groove while backing up Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns.
After Julius Randle replaced Towns following Minnesota’s blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks, Reid averaged 14.2 points in 27.5 minutes last season. His three-point percentage took a hit (37.9%), but Reid remained the pure scorer that Chris Finch needed him to be. He also recorded career highs in rebounds (6, 0.8 more than the previous season) and assists (2.3, 1 more than the previous season).
When the Wolves traded for Gobert in 2022, Reid didn’t know what his role would be. He was being DNP’d early in Gobert’s first season in Minnesota, which is almost unbelievable given how vital he has become to this team and the fact that he signed a five-year, $125 million contract in the summer.
His unique scoring ability, which comes equipped with loud plays like his dunk on Friday, is why the Wolves view Reid as a long-term partner next to Anthony Edwards. However, Reid is rapidly blossoming into a much more complete player.
In September, Reid’s older sister, Toraya, was shot and killed at an apartment complex in New Jersey, 23 days before training camp began. The Wolves gave Naz as much space and support as they could during that time. The tragedy understandably disrupted the start of Reid’s season. He didn’t look like himself early on. But by December, Reid had found his groove on the court again.
“He really started to kind of just rebound really at a high level,” Chris Finch said regarding when Reid started to re-find his groove. “And make a lot of … those types of plays; get out and run, rebound, and just play with more activity. And that’s really what got him going offensively, was doing non-offensive stuff.”
Reid is corralling 6.4 rebounds per game this season. With 24 games left in the season, he’s had 13 games with fewer than five rebounds. Through the 80 games he played last season, he grabbed fewer than five rebounds 32 times.
However, Reid still has defensive shortcomings. He isn’t a rim protector, and he also struggles to stay in front of wings and guards on the perimeter. But his defense has improved as the season has gone on. Also, his much more consistent rebounding is indicative of better energy on defense.
Offensively, Reid is looking more comfortable than ever.
“In the couple games before the break, he struggled to score,” Finch said. “I thought he forced some stuff in those games. Tonight, I thought he let the game come to him a bit, and then he kind of got into his bag, if you will.”
Reid has remained an uber-efficient spot-up shooter, connecting on 40% of his catch-and-shoot threes this season. He’s also been picking his spots to attack in isolation with more decisiveness. Overall, Reid seems to have a much better gauge of what the offense needs on a play-by-play basis, which shows up in his passing.
“All that stuff just tends to come out when you’re in the flow of the game,” Reid said on Friday. “Real flow state. Just hooping.”
In addition to the 21 points and seven rebounds Reid scored against the Mavs, he also dished out four assists, one of which was a perfectly placed lob to Gobert late in the third quarter. That pass was a part of a 7-point boomlet that Reid orchestrated. He made a layup and three-pointer in that span, giving the Wolves a boost as the Mavs made a run.
That stretch to close the third quarter was arguably the most important part of Reid’s game against Dallas. Still, the dunk is what had people talking about as they left Target Center.
“Just the excitement that it brought,” Reid said. “That’s the energy I used to bring two years ago, a year ago. So just kind of getting back to that, and kind of getting the crowd into the game. That’s kind of something we need, especially going into this run, and obviously going into the playoffs. Just making things electrifying for the fans, and while still being within myself. I think, just, stuff like that is huge.”
As any 6MOTY candidate should, Reid prides himself on making the plays that ignite a roar. Reid was completing those plays when he won the award two years ago. He’s on track to be a two-time 6MOTY, which is largely a scoring-based award.
But, for as important dunks like his poster against Gafford are from an energy standpoint, Naz Reid blossoming into an all-around contributor off the bench bodes very well for Minnesota long-term.
