Which Naz Reid Are The Wolves Getting In The Playoffs?

Naz Reid is easy to root for.

He built himself from an undrafted, undersized, yet overweight prospect out of LSU into consistently one of the best bench players in the NBA. With seven games remaining in his seventh regular season in Minnesota, Reid again has himself in the conversation for his second Sixth Man of the Year award. Naz Reid currently has the fourth-highest 6MOTY odds according to FanDuel, behind Keldon Johnson, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Reed Sheppard.

He overcame a slow start after dealing with a personal family tragedy in the offseason to return to the Naz Reid who inspired tattoos, beach towel giveaways, and the most joyous two words in the NBA. He got his groove back by mid-November and posted a magnificent line of 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, a steal, and a block per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 41.3 percent on 6.8 three-point attempts per game.

Things have simmered since February began. Naz is averaging just 11.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in February and March, shooting 41.7/26.3/68.4. Some of that regression is due to a nagging shoulder injury and a few other nicks picked up over a long season that’s forced him out of three games since February 22.

With seven regular-season games left, the Timberwolves are in a dogfight for playoff positioning. Ahead of Thursday’s showdown with the Detroit Pistons, the Wolves sit in sixth place in the West at 46-29, a half game behind the Houston Rockets for fifth and two games behind the Denver Nuggets for fourth place and homecourt advantage in Round 1 of the playoffs.

Left knee soreness will potentially sideline Jaden McDaniels for the rest of the season. Anthony Edwards’ right knee injury has officially made him ineligible for end-of-season awards, because he will not reach the 65-game threshold. Julius Randle has been a shell of himself for months. Naz Reid will need to step into the void if the Timberwolves want to make a third consecutive deep playoff run.

But which Naz Reid will the Wolves get in the playoffs?

As the longest tenured player on the Timberwolves roster, Naz Reid has been around for the entire franchise turnaround. The Wolves won 19 games during Naz’s rookie season and 23 games in his sophomore season, easily missing the playoffs in both campaigns. They finally made the playoffs for just the second time since 2004 in Naz’s third season.

Reid played 54 minutes and scored 24 points in five appearances against the Memphis Grizzlies, who beat the Wolves 4-2 in the first round. Naz missed the playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in 2023 because of a wrist injury suffered on a dunk attempt against the Phoenix Suns with two weeks left in the regular season. He finally made his mark in the playoffs during his 6MOTY season in 2024. But his performance in the playoffs hasn’t always lived up to the legend of Naz Reid.

He struggled to make shots against the Suns in the first round and the Nuggets in the second round in 2024. He hit just 5 of 16 threes (31.3 percent) in the four-game sweep against Phoenix and 9-28 (32.1 percent) in the classic seven-game second round series against Denver. Still, he found other ways to impact both series. His defense on Nikola Jokic was critical in propelling the Wolves to the West Finals for the first time since 2004. In the conference finals, Reid’s shot finally dropped, but it was too little too late as the Wolves fell to the Mavericks 4-1.

Naz was instrumental in Minnesota knocking off the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in the first two rounds of the playoffs last season. He went 11-22 (50 percent) from three against the Lakers and 10-23 (43.5 percent) from three against the Warriors. He (and the whole team) struggled in the five games against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. OKC’s speed and length rattled Reid and forced him to shoot 4-18 (22.2 percent) from three and average only 9.2 points over five games.

When he’s on and his shot is falling, Naz Reid plays with a swagger and enthusiasm unknown to mankind, or whatever John Harbaugh is saying these days. When his three-ball isn’t falling, Naz tends to struggle elsewhere on the court. His defense sags, and he starts pressing on offense to try to get any shot to go down. Like his best friend on the team, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid can let his emotions get the best of him when things aren’t going his way.

Naz Reid is the epitome of the Timberwolves franchise’s resurgence over the last half-decade. He’s going to play a huge role in Minnesota’s playoff run. Whether that’s helping them run to the finals for the first time in history or an early playoff exit is up to him.