With approximately a month left in the season, Naz Reid remains the favorite to bring home his second Sixth Man of the Year trophy in three years. It isn't a lock by any means, as guys like Keldon Johnson and Jaime Jaquez Jr are also having great seasons, with Johnson being the biggest threat to steal the award.
As such Reid's play during the stretch run of the season will be vital.
Naz's case over Keldon Johnson
Both Naz and Johnson are having similarly productive seasons, and both are major contributors for Western Conference contenders. However, Reid has the ability to take over games in a way that probably isn't in Johnson's wheelhouse.
That's not a shot at Johnson; he's been huge for the Spurs. But Reid has put the Timberwolves on his back and won them a few games this season, which speaks volumes, especially for someone off the bench.
Some of Reid's most notable performances this season are 33 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes versus the Bulls, 29 points and four rebounds versus the Heat, and 28 points and five rebounds versus the Wizards. The notable stat is that all of these games were won by the Timberwolves.
Reid has been in a mini-skid lately
The only thing that could put Reid's award in jeopardy is his recent decline in scoring. He's averaging 14 points on the season. Unfortunately, in February, his scoring was down to 11.1 points per game on 31.8 percent shooting from distance.
March hasn't been any better, although the month has just started, so there's plenty of time to turn it around. In the three games this month, he's averaging 8.7 points on a measly 35.5 percent from the field. Some of this is due to the Wolves' bolstered bench, making it less likely for Reid to have to carry the bench like he had to before the trade deadline.
These numbers may not look promising, but I'm pretty confident he'll get himself out of this slump soon. He's too talented a player to continue shooting this badly, and with the additions of Ayo Dosunmu and Kyle Anderson, that offers more playmaking to free up Naz for looks either from three or in the post.
There isn't much time left in the season, but the Wolves are only hitting their stride more and more as a team, so with a solid statistical month from Reid and the Wolves continuing to stack wins, he may be looking at his second piece of hardware pretty soon.