Naz Reid takes a new deal, will stay with Timberwolves

All those who have Naz Reid tattoos don’t have to remove them, and all those who have his name splayed across a beach towel can bring the towel to their favorite lake for the foreseeable future.

Reid will now be with the Timberwolves for at least the next four years. He is tearing up the player option he had for next season for around $15 million and will sign a five-year deal worth up to $125 million to stay in Minnesota, sources confirmed Friday night. The fifth year of the deal is a player option, but the team’s longest-tenured player and one of the most popular in franchise history isn’t going anywhere for a while.

After Tim Connelly’s first season as president of basketball operations, he was high on Reid. When Reid was a free agent two summers ago, Connelly signed him to his second contract, even though the franchise had Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert as its starting frontcourt.

Reid, for his part, was happy in Minnesota, content to be with the team that drafted and developed him, and happy to embrace the love of a fan base that made him a cult hero, even if potentially he turned down more playing time on other teams.

Two years later, Connelly, the Wolves and Reid haven’t changed their minds about each other.

Reid, who was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-24, is coming off a year in which he topped the numbers that earned him the honor. He averaged a career-high 14.2 points on 46% shooting and a career-high 6.0 rebounds while averaging 27.5 minutes per game.

Reid is the first of a few dominoes to fall in free agency for the Wolves, who are trying to stay under the second apron of the salary cap and the punitive roster-building restrictions that come with that.

Julius Randle still has a player option of around $31 million he must decide to take or decline, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a free agent. The value of Reid’s deal (around $25 million per season, but likely slightly less in the first year) means it will be difficult for the Wolves to retain Alexander-Walker if Randle opts in to his deal while staying under the second apron. Alexander-Walker is widely reported to be a target of multiple teams in free agency and could command around the full midlevel exception of $14 million.

Essentially, Reid’s deal means the Wolves can likely retain either Randle or Alexander-Walker and stay below the second apron, but not both. Connelly said staying under that $207.8 million threshold was the goal.

“We have some limitations financially. We want to make sure that we avoid that second apron,” Connelly said after the draft Thursday. “But we’re really excited about the direction of our team. We’re excited that the guys who are free all want to come back.”

Reid was also a potential target of other teams, but just like two years ago he is opting to stay in Minnesota even if it means he will come off the bench again behind Randle and Gobert.

The duration of the deal means Reid’s contract lines up with that of Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels. While Reid entered the league a year earlier than they did, the trio cut their teeth in the NBA together, have grown up together in the league and now will be playing some of the prime years of their careers together after already leading the Wolves to consecutive appearances in the Western Conference finals.

The move to re-sign Reid became possible after the Wolves traded Towns last season to New York for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The Wolves saved money in that trade for the long term in shedding Towns’ supermax deal that will potentially pay him $61 million in the 2027-28 season. It provided the long-term room for the Wolves to re-sign Reid, even if Randle opts into his deal.

Reid’s new deal is a signal for both the short and long view of the Wolves franchise. He is a significant part of the young core the franchise envisions being competitive as Edwards enters the peak years of his career. Meanwhile, the Wolves want to keep intact as much of the team that went to the conference finals last season. Even if they lose Alexander-Walker in free agency, the Wolves are confident in players such as Terrence Shannon Jr., Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark to fill the gap in the rotation beyond the top seven of Gobert, Randle, McDaniels, Edwards, Mike Conley, DiVincenzo and Reid.

Re-signing Reid was never a question of if for the Wolves front office. They were always going to want him, just as they did two years ago. The feeling, again, was mutual.