The Minnesota Timberwolves will be shopping at least one, if not both of Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, as they look to usher in a new era of Wolves basketball, one more fit to the strengths of Anthony Edwards. While some new additions are bound to happen, one guy is more than deserving of a promotion to the starting lineup, and it's Naz Reid.
Reid has been a starting-caliber player in the league for a few years now, and last offseason, he could have easily signed elsewhere for a bigger role. But he stayed loyal to the Wolves and signed a five-year, $125 million deal. Simply put, you don't pay a bench player nine figures, and with a Randle departure imminent, Reid will finally have his chance to start permanently.
Naz Reid was arguably the second-best Wolves player in their second-round series against the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 14.3 points while netting 45.8 percent of his 3-pointers, making a strong case that he can scale up.
Naz Reid is the perfect fit next to Anthony Edwards
Since he came into the league undrafted out of LSU, Reid has completely transformed his body and his game. He started as an undersized and slightly chubby center. Now he slimmed out, is an elite stretch four, and can even play the three in certain lineups.
What makes him a much better fit with Edwards than Randle was is one major thing. He's an extremely quick decision-maker and ball mover. When the ball hits Reid's hands, it's either going up for a shot, he's putting it on the floor right away, or he's swinging it. This is a huge contrast to the slow style of play Randle plays with.
Not to mention, Reid is a better shooter than Randle, and surrounding Edwards with as much shooting as possible is the quickest way to unlock his playmaking. No matter which direction the Wolves decide to go in trade talks this offseason, they must keep Reid here to pair with Edwards long-term.
Naz Reid could improve a starting lineup that didn't really work all season
It isn't exactly news that the Wolves' starters this past year didn't fit well with each other, at all. There were too many ball-dominant players combined with not nearly enough spacing. Reid alleviates both of those by simply taking Randle's spot in the lineup. Randle was probably the biggest culprit for why the starters didn't mesh well together, so this change could be a major addition by subtraction.
Inserting Reid among the starters provides more shooting, more ball movement, the same amount of defense, and less iso-ball. Regardless of whether the Wolves go after a star point guard like Kyrie Irving or a star forward like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Reid would be able to fit with either.
We've seen how good he is in an elevated role, and now it's time to keep him there.
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