Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid to play with Team USA Select
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves will reportedly be sending a pair of young players out west to practice and scrimmage with the Team USA Select team.
Anthony Edwards, the NBA’s runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award, and Naz Reid, who just completed his second season, will get the opportunity to play against the Team USA Olympic entry as they gear up for the summer games in Tokyo.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid on Team USA Select
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Edwards’ expected presence on the team, presumably as something of a headliner for the group.
Rookie of the Year runner-up Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves will be among the headliners on a USA Basketball Select team who’ll travel to a Las Vegas training camp in July to compete against Team USA prior to the Tokyo Olympics, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 23, 2021
Then, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic chimed in with the news that Naz Reid will reportedly be part of the group.
Big time opportunity for both Edwards and Reid to practice with the Olympians. It’s a competitive environment. Two hard workers who want to get better … and they will in Las Vegas
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) June 23, 2021
As Krawczynski notes, the opportunity for both Edwards and Reid to participate in Team USA camp is invaluable.
Camp begins on July 6, and while we don’t have a full schedule at this point, the Select players will surely have the opportunity to participate in multiple scrimmages against the USA representatives preparing to play in Tokyo.
There hasn’t been a full Select roster released yet, either, but the fact that Edwards appears to be the headliner and that Reid made the team suggests that it will be an interesting mix of first and second-year players and emerging young talent. It also speaks to how Reid is thought of outside the Timberwolves organization and is an acknowledgment of just how promising he is as a talented big man.
Of course, Las Vegas Summer League has traditionally been around that time of year, but with everything on the NBA calendar pushed back by a few weeks this year, it won’t be taking place until Aug. 8 to 17.
It will be interesting to see if Edwards still participates; he was so dominant in April and May that there’s a case to be made for him to sit out of competitive play after logging a full camp with Team USA Select.
Reid almost certainly won’t play in Summer League after two seasons in the league, but there are plenty of names that could play, including Jaden McDaniels and fellow 2020 first-round pick Leandro Bolmaro, who holds a chance of coming stateside for the 2021-22 season.
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Congratulations to Edwards for making the Select squad, and here’s hoping for a scrimmage or two to be televised come mid-July.