The Naz Reid Thread

[KGdaBom]

Naz extension in the works per the Athletic.

The Wolves have begun contract extension talks with Naz Reid, according to Shams Charania.
Reid has barely been in the rotation this season, since the Wolves are staggering Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, though he did pour in 14 points during the fourth quarter on Sunday. Afterward, he talked to reporters about his uncertain role. "It gets tough but it’s all part of the process," he said. "At the end of the day, everybody on the team believes in me and that’s the biggest thing, that they all support me." It sounds like he's amenable to re-upping in Minnesota.

RELATED: Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns
SOURCE: The Athletic
Oct 24, 2022, 10:35 AM ET

Saw that. I also saw his face on opening night. I also heard Finch say he has no plans to add Naz to the rotation. In fact it is quite the opposite. He will only play if people are out, and then only spot minutes. Finch planned to (paraphrasing here) “steal a few minutes” in the fourth. He was absolutely going to bench Naz for KAT and Rudy in the fourth. 5 minutes a game if that is not enough for Naz. My guess is the extension will be to help with a trade around the deadline.

Naz has worked very hard. Remember the doughboy that first joined our team. That guy is a distant memory. This year he appears to have taken a big step forward with his all around game. I think Finch is making a mistake not giving Naz regular rotation minutes. I hope we figure that out and keep him around.

[winforlose]

Naz extension in the works per the Athletic.

The Wolves have begun contract extension talks with Naz Reid, according to Shams Charania.
Reid has barely been in the rotation this season, since the Wolves are staggering Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, though he did pour in 14 points during the fourth quarter on Sunday. Afterward, he talked to reporters about his uncertain role. "It gets tough but it’s all part of the process," he said. "At the end of the day, everybody on the team believes in me and that’s the biggest thing, that they all support me." It sounds like he's amenable to re-upping in Minnesota.

RELATED: Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns
SOURCE: The Athletic
Oct 24, 2022, 10:35 AM ET

Saw that. I also saw his face on opening night. I also heard Finch say he has no plans to add Naz to the rotation. In fact it is quite the opposite. He will only play if people are out, and then only spot minutes. Finch planned to (paraphrasing here) “steal a few minutes” in the fourth. He was absolutely going to bench Naz for KAT and Rudy in the fourth. 5 minutes a game if that is not enough for Naz. My guess is the extension will be to help with a trade around the deadline.

Naz has worked very hard. Remember the doughboy that first joined our team. That guy is a distant memory. This year he appears to have taken a big step forward with his all around game. I think Finch is making a mistake not giving Naz regular rotation minutes. I hope we figure that out and keep him around.

I very much agree. I am a big Naz Reid fan. That said, a part of me badly wants to see him get a chance to start with a different team to spread his wings. Here he is always in the shadow of giants. Either offensive or defensive giants, but giants non the less.

[shrink]

Read on Twitter

[Biff Cooper]

If we are trading Naz, we better be getting a good return on him. He has a lot of value and he is an RFA.

[Klomp]

If we are trading Naz, we better be getting a good return on him. He has a lot of value and he is an RFA.

No. UFA this summer.

[wolves_89]

If we are trading Naz, we better be getting a good return on him. He has a lot of value and he is an RFA.

Unfortunately, he is not an RFA. Since he wasn't a first round pick he lost his RFA status after his third season (the Wolves chose not to let him hit free agency as an RFA last offseason). This coming offseason he will be an UFA unless the Wolves sign him to an extension.

[Biff Cooper]

OK - we have Bird Rights on him though...

[wolves_89]

OK - we have Bird Rights on him though...

Yes we do. We could sign him to an extension right now, or re-sign him this offseason using his bird rights. I think there is a chance the Wolves could sign him to a new contract just to keep him as an asset.

[shrink]

OK - we have Bird Rights on him though...

Yes we do. We could sign him to an extension right now, or re-sign him this offseason using his bird rights. I think there is a chance the Wolves could sign him to a new contract just to keep him as an asset.

I think it’s possible, and if we could get him to sign at a tradable number, that would be a win for the Wolves. We might lower his trade value a bit for teams that want to use him for a playoff run now, but we’re like that too, at least until Towns gets back. After that when he and Gobert split all the center minutes again, Naz definitely has more trade value elsewhere. Remember, the Wolves see his talent in practice, and he was still picking up some healthy scratches early in the season. If the Wolves and Naz could find a reasonable number, it is a leap of faith by both sides. The Wolves can’t hang onto him if he is, say, a $9 mil third string center that doesn’t play, and Naz foregoes his first chance at a free agent contract, after suffering with an unguaranteed deal for four years. It sounds like the Wolves are trying to work on it though.

I did want to point out though that having Bird rights doesn’t give as much leverage for a player who likely won’t make more than the MLE. If Naz was worth $16 mil, only the team with Bird rights and teams with cap space could make that offer. If he’s at the MLE or under, that opens up a whole lot of over-the-cap teams to make offers. Since Naz is unrestricted and not restricted, MIN can’t simply match someone else’s offer to keep him, and Naz would likely choose a team where he’ll get more minutes, which would help his career.

[BlacJacMac]

OK - we have Bird Rights on him though...

We do. But that gives him all the power. He'd have to want to come back here.

[wolves_89]

OK - we have Bird Rights on him though...

Yes we do. We could sign him to an extension right now, or re-sign him this offseason using his bird rights. I think there is a chance the Wolves could sign him to a new contract just to keep him as an asset.

I think it’s possible, and if we could get him to sign at a tradable number, that would be a win for the Wolves. We might lower his trade value a bit for teams that want to use him for a playoff run now, but we’re like that too, at least until Towns gets back. After that when he and Gobert split all the center minutes again, Naz definitely has more trade value elsewhere. Remember, the Wolves see his talent in practice, and he was still picking up some healthy scratches early in the season. If the Wolves and Naz could find a reasonable number, it is a leap of faith by both sides. The Wolves can’t hang onto him if he is, say, a $9 mil third string center that doesn’t play, and Naz foregoes his first chance at a free agent contract, after suffering with an unguaranteed deal for four years. It sounds like the Wolves are trying to work on it though.

I did want to point out though that having Bird rights doesn’t give as much leverage for a player who likely won’t make more than the MLE. If Naz was worth $16 mil, only the team with Bird rights and teams with cap space could make that offer. If he’s at the MLE or under, that opens up a whole lot of over-the-cap teams to make offers. Since Naz is unrestricted and not restricted, MIN can’t simply match someone else’s offer to keep him, and Naz would likely choose a team where he’ll get more minutes, which would help his career.

Signing Naz to a new deal that is tradable would be key. While going somewhere else could be attractive, I think there is an argument that Minnesota could make saying re-sign here and see how the first half of 2023-24 plays out. If KAT/Gobert isn't working, one of them could get moved opening up consistent rotation minutes for Naz. If Towns/Gobert is successful Connelly could promise to move Naz at the 2022-23 trade deadline to a team where he would play.

[BlacJacMac]

Signing Naz to a new deal that is tradable would be key. While going somewhere else could be attractive, I think there is an argument that Minnesota could make saying re-sign here and see how the first half of 2023-24 plays out. If KAT/Gobert isn't working, one of them could get moved opening up consistent rotation minutes for Naz. If Towns/Gobert is successful Connelly could promise to move Naz at the 2022-23 trade deadline to a team where he would play.

That seems unlikely to me.

First you're telling him that if the team plays well, he's gone. But if we struggle, he gets to stay. And if the team plays really well with Rudy and Towns, Naz is likely getting sporadic minutes and not producing enough to make teams really interested in trading value for him.

Not to mention that the number of teams that would want to trade for him at the deadline could be considerably less than the number of teams that would like to sign him this summer. In the summer, rosters are very fluid. Halfway through the year, teams may not be looking for such specific players. And if a team he really wants to join offers him a deal this summer, he'd be foolish to sign with us and hope to be traded to them later.

My guess is if he's still with us past the trade deadline, he signs elsewhere in the offseason - and we'll have effectively rented him for the stretch run.

[wolves_89]

Signing Naz to a new deal that is tradable would be key. While going somewhere else could be attractive, I think there is an argument that Minnesota could make saying re-sign here and see how the first half of 2023-24 plays out. If KAT/Gobert isn't working, one of them could get moved opening up consistent rotation minutes for Naz. If Towns/Gobert is successful Connelly could promise to move Naz at the 2022-23 trade deadline to a team where he would play.

That seems unlikely to me.

First you're telling him that if the team plays well, he's gone. But if we struggle, he gets to stay. And if the team plays really well with Rudy and Towns, Naz is likely getting sporadic minutes and not producing enough to make teams really interested in trading value for him.

Not to mention that the number of teams that would want to trade for him at the deadline could be considerably less than the number of teams that would like to sign him this summer. In the summer, rosters are very fluid. Halfway through the year, teams may not be looking for such specific players. And if a team he really wants to join offers him a deal this summer, he'd be foolish to sign with us and hope to be traded to them later.

My guess is if he's still with us past the trade deadline, he signs elsewhere in the offseason - and we'll have effectively rented him for the stretch run.

Losing him in the offseason is definitely the most likely outcome, but Naz having an extended positive history with a team and players shouldn't be discounted either in terms of a loyalty factor.

[BlacJacMac]

Sure. But when you're getting less than 15 MPG when KAT and Rudy are healthy, how much loyalty does that buy? Especially when he'll likely have teams offering him a starting role this offseason.

Our last 5 games he's only played 15, 9, 13, 16 and 13 minutes. And the first 2 games in that list were without Rudy as well as KAT.

I find it hard to believe he thinks there is a real role for him going forward in Minnesota.

[shrink]

Sure. But when you're getting less than 15 MPG when KAT and Rudy are healthy, how much loyalty does that buy? Especially when he'll likely have teams offering him a starting role this offseason.

Our last 5 games he's only played 15, 9, 13, 16 and 13 minutes. And the first 2 games in that list were without Rudy as well as KAT.

I find it hard to believe he thinks there is a real role for him going forward in Minnesota.

Right. Even “15 MPG when KAT and Rudy are healthy” is optimistic.

In the 18 games at the start of the season where we had both KAT and Rudy, Naz had 4 DNP-CD’s, and 2 when they didn’t even activate him! The games where he did get to play, he played, 9, 13, 13, 5, 8, 16, 22, 2, 10, 16, 13, 16. Factor in the six 0’s, and he played 143 minutes in 18 games, or about 8 minutes a game.

He may have a positive history with his teammates (not too sure how he felt about that underpaying contract!), but for the sake of his career, he can’t stay on a team where he averages only 8 minutes a game when KAT and Rudy are healthy. And MIN can’t give him a big contract for such a tiny role. There is no worse team for Rudy than us.

[Neeva]

Trade him for a guard that can take Nowell’s mins and be put in when dlo is trash ( if they keep dlo)

[Klomp]

Something to ponder...

With how unknown the Towns/Gobert situation is, can we afford to not extend Naz? He's just so young.

Dane Moore said today he reached out to 4 outside front office sources...they all said Naz contract this summer would probably be around the taxpayer MLE. That's really not that outlandish to fit on the books for a reliable replacement at center for a franchise that relies on its centers more than most other franchises.

[shrink]

Something to ponder...

With how unknown the Towns/Gobert situation is, can we afford to not extend Naz? He's just so young.

Dane Moore said today he reached out to 4 outside front office sources...they all said Naz contract this summer would probably be around the taxpayer MLE. That's really not that outlandish to fit on the books for a reliable replacement at center for a franchise that relies on its centers more than most other franchises.

An extension protects MIN as injury insurance for Rudy and KAT, and an extension protects Naz from injury to Naz. So there is incentive for both sides. However, I imagine that the reason this hasn’t happened is because Naz wants to see if he can do better in free agency. He’s probably not scared of injury - he’s played 3.5 years on unguaranteed contracts, so why get scared now?

And while I’d love to see an extension for my sake and the team’s, nobody deserves to go through the free agent process more than Naz. He gets to have offers from multiple teams, and he gets to decide where he wants to play next year - not being forced to go to whatever team MIN gets the best trade offer from. Naz has been a good soldier, playing hard and without complaint for four years on the worst salary and worst team fit of any NBA player. He deserves to have some control over his life and career.

[wolves_89]

Something to ponder...

With how unknown the Towns/Gobert situation is, can we afford to not extend Naz? He's just so young.

Dane Moore said today he reached out to 4 outside front office sources...they all said Naz contract this summer would probably be around the taxpayer MLE. That's really not that outlandish to fit on the books for a reliable replacement at center for a franchise that relies on its centers more than most other franchises.

A taxpayer MLE level deal next offseason would be around $26M/3 year. I'd be very happy if Naz signed an extension with the Wolves for a bit more than that, say a $30M/3 year deal. At that price point he would remain a positive asset and he would be well positioned if we end up moving one of Towns or Gobert in the next year or two.

[Note30]

Something to ponder...

With how unknown the Towns/Gobert situation is, can we afford to not extend Naz? He's just so young.

Dane Moore said today he reached out to 4 outside front office sources...they all said Naz contract this summer would probably be around the taxpayer MLE. That's really not that outlandish to fit on the books for a reliable replacement at center for a franchise that relies on its centers more than most other franchises.

And even then that raises his trade value. Especially if he continues to play well.