4 Timberwolves players who have improved their trade value in 2023

Player I: C Naz Reid

From the young center who was once considered a player who could not defend the basket, Minnesota Timberwolves backup center Naz Reid has come a long way. So far that in some reports, he has been cited as a player who desperately wants his shot at starting at center for an NBA team.

While the Timberwolves have been passively negotiating a contract extension with Naz Reid and his agent throughout the season, Reid’s performance has clearly inflated his price, and his expectations, for doing so. It was that escalating level of compensation, and expectation to command a starting role in the future, that made the chances of extending Reid seem less and less likely.

But if an extension was unlikely, the Timberwolves did not act as though they were at risk of losing Naz Reid at the NBA Trade Deadline. Instead, the NBA rumors reported in the weeks leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline, the Minnesota Timberwolves were turning away possible suitors for backup center Naz Reid. The reason? The Timberwolves reportedly are now confident that they can extend him.

It does make sense for Reid to remain on the Timberwolves roster, if even for just a year or two. Despite his surging production, he has questions about his intensity and durability that will be leveraged against him in any contract negotiation with another team. And the Timberwolves hold his Bird rights, which means that jumping ship limits his earning potential in the future.

A one or two-year contract extension makes complete sense for Naz Reid. Not only will that enable him to demonstrate durability and improved production, but he needs to showcase significant improvement in the NBA Playoffs to be given a fair shake at a starting role for a contender, or a team trying to rebuild itself into a contender.

Naz Reid is a free agent in 2023.