Naz Reid: Timberwolves investment that already pays huge dividends

The Minnesota Timberwolves extended backup center Naz Reid in the offseason. Some asked the question why the Timberwolves, having made huge investments in both center Rudy Gobert and center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, would invest further into the center position by re-signing Naz Reid.

In professional sports, there are times when a player is re-signed because he is just that good, his production is rapidly trending in a positive direction, and you don’t want to miss out on the heights that the player will bring to the sport in the near future.

But on those other occasions, a player is re-signed because that player’s work ethic is unsurpassed. The player has put in the work, paid the dues, and been beloved by everyone along the way as the player climbed through the ranks to get to center stage.

Naz Reid. That’s it. ‘Nuff said

For the Minnesota Timberwolves, Naz Reid is the rare unicorn. You see, he checks all of the boxes in both categories, and it was on full display against the New York Knicks in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ third preseason game.

The Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0) defeated a very good New York Knicks (1-1) team in Madison Square Garden. And if you were expecting the Timberwolves and the Knicks to simply go through the motions, you were in for a treat.

This was not a standard preseason game. Rather, it was a game that the Knicks appeared to want very much to win. After spotting the Knicks to an eight-point lead to open the game, the Timberwolves caught on and decided to meet the Knicks stride for stride.