The Naz Reid Thread

[TimberKat]

I don't know why some of you are all up in arms about Finch wanting to play Naz, KAT & Rudy. It's not like he said the starting lineup will be those three, Ant & MC or Jaden. He said he could envision it. It would be interesting to watch them, Ant & Slo-Mo for a quarter or so. See what situations pop up and push the envelope. No need to play man to man either. Run a 3-2 or a 1-2-2 zone. We have plenty of length and ability.

Because there is only one right way to play the game. Each player must have a defined position. Otherwise, it messes up what a player supposed to do and how we paid them

[Klomp]

I don't know why some of you are all up in arms about Finch wanting to play Naz, KAT & Rudy. It's not like he said the starting lineup will be those three, Ant & MC or Jaden. He said he could envision it. It would be interesting to watch them, Ant & Slo-Mo for a quarter or so. See what situations pop up and push the envelope. No need to play man to man either. Run a 3-2 or a 1-2-2 zone. We have plenty of length and ability.

I've been thinking about the late-season win in Oakland a lot lately...

The Timberwolves’ audacious plan to supersize their roster certainly didn’t look good early in the season. And even when it started to show signs of life, there was always the concern that opponents who could go small would have a simple antidote for combating the approach. Chief among those teams was the Warriors, with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson bombing away, Jordan Poole knifing to the rim and Draymond Green orchestrating that dizzying ball movement to get the Wolves bigs on roller skates.

There is no way the Wolves could beat the Warriors and stay true to their giant lineup, right? This was going to be the stress test that broke this hair-brained scheme once and for all.

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players. In the jubilant visiting locker room after a stunning 99-96 victory over the Warriors on Sunday, the Timberwolves took on the look of a team that has finally found a way to make this crazy plan a problem for the rest of the league.
-------
For a couple of minutes in the fourth quarter, Finch went with a preposterously big lineup of Towns, Reid, Jaden McDaniels, Taurean Prince and Kyle Anderson. Standing a paltry 6-foot-6, Prince was the only player under 6-9 on the floor.

https://theathletic.com/4350133/2023/03/27/timberwolves-warriors-kat-win/

With letting Prince go, I feel like Gobert is the most natural replacement for him in this specific lineup. Let's go!

[younggunsmn]

Having 2 guys 6-9 or taller in Anderson and McDaniels who can switch and defend the perimeter at a high level is a definite weapon.
Ideally SloMo is Jaden's backup, but I can see the value in playing them together at times.
The way the roster is stacking up, there may be more minutes for Slo-Mo in the backcourt than frontcourt, depending on how well Milton and Brown fit in.

I am not sure about the 4/5 end of that equation with KAT, Rudy, and Naz.
It will be as effective as the other team's outside shooting.
The key will be punishing teams for that with offensive rebounds and interior scoring, not something that was particularly successful last year.

[shrink]

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players.

Is Naz one of the top six players? I have him at 7th, then a big gap to 8th.

Conley, Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Towns, Gobert.

[Klomp]

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players.

Is Naz one of the top six players? I have him at 7th, then a big gap to 8th.

Conley, Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Towns, Gobert.

I think there's certainly a conversation to be had for 6th....

[younggunsmn]

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players.

Is Naz one of the top six players? I have him at 7th, then a big gap to 8th.

Conley, Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Towns, Gobert.

I think there's certainly a conversation to be had for 6th....

I will be curious if the pecking order will be the same at the end of the year as it is at the beginning.

Naz has the potential to be a part of our best 5 man group, his per minute stats and offensive efficiency were outstanding last year.
Jaden could see his offensive usage jump.

[BleedGreen1989]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

[minimus]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

He is basically a foul machine in defense. He has got all tools to be a positive defender: he is mobile, athletic, has long wingspan, quick hands, but he is always a step slow in team defense. Although he has improved a lot, but it is more about how bad he was as rookie in defense.

You don't play him for defense, Reid was playing as the best 6th man / bench scorer in entire NBA before he got injured.

[BleedGreen1989]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

He is basically a foul machine in defense. He has got all tools to be a positive defender: he is mobile, athletic, has long wingspan, quick hands, but he is always a step slow in team defense. Although he has improved a lot, but it is more about how bad he was as rookie in defense.

You don't play him for defense, Reid was playing as the best 6th man / bench scorer in entire NBA before he got injured.

Agreed. Curious how you (and others) feel he would hold up as a full time starter? Is the defense at least passable or would his shortcomings on that end outweigh his offense over an 82 game season?

[KGdaBom]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

He is basically a foul machine in defense. He has got all tools to be a positive defender: he is mobile, athletic, has long wingspan, quick hands, but he is always a step slow in team defense. Although he has improved a lot, but it is more about how bad he was as rookie in defense.

You don't play him for defense, Reid was playing as the best 6th man / bench scorer in entire NBA before he got injured.

Agreed. Curious how you (and others) feel he would hold up as a full time starter? Is the defense at least passable or would his shortcomings on that end outweigh his offense over an 82 game season?

I don't think he would be an overall negative, because his offense is very good.

[minimus]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

He is basically a foul machine in defense. He has got all tools to be a positive defender: he is mobile, athletic, has long wingspan, quick hands, but he is always a step slow in team defense. Although he has improved a lot, but it is more about how bad he was as rookie in defense.

You don't play him for defense, Reid was playing as the best 6th man / bench scorer in entire NBA before he got injured.

Agreed. Curious how you (and others) feel he would hold up as a full time starter? Is the defense at least passable or would his shortcomings on that end outweigh his offense over an 82 game season?

He is a very unique player at this point. Many see in him stretch five type of big, but in reality he is probably the most skilled in terms of ballhandling and finishing big in NBA. His success as starting big mostly depends on team offense and defense, hence coaching staff creativity. In right situation he can have Sabonis like impact. He is below average rebounder for a starting big, but I believe he has same instincts as passer as Sabonis. Also Reid looks good as fiveout big, running multiple DHOs, zoom, delay plays.

[KATKlownFeet]

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players.

Is Naz one of the top six players? I have him at 7th, then a big gap to 8th.

Conley, Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Towns, Gobert.

[KATKlownFeet]

It has taken the Timberwolves almost an entire season to figure out how they can best use a roster in which Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid are three of their best six players.

Is Naz one of the top six players? I have him at 7th, then a big gap to 8th.

Conley, Ant, McDaniels, Anderson, Towns, Gobert.

Naz Reid's plus/minutes numbers are dreadful. He certainly is not in top 6 and may not be in top 7.

[Klomp]

Naz Reid's plus/minutes numbers are dreadful. He certainly is not in top 6 and may not be in top 7.

This could simply be because he spends most of is time on the second unit, meaning he often shares the court with guys like Nowell and McLaughlin.

[younggunsmn]

Hey Wolves fans, curious if you could entertain me.

Writing a bit of a season preview for teams for myself. Question specifically is regarding Reid's defense. I've looked at some of the numbers but would appreciate an eye-test view.

Great extension for Minnesota. Love Naz.

He is basically a foul machine in defense. He has got all tools to be a positive defender: he is mobile, athletic, has long wingspan, quick hands, but he is always a step slow in team defense. Although he has improved a lot, but it is more about how bad he was as rookie in defense.

You don't play him for defense, Reid was playing as the best 6th man / bench scorer in entire NBA before he got injured.

Agreed. Curious how you (and others) feel he would hold up as a full time starter? Is the defense at least passable or would his shortcomings on that end outweigh his offense over an 82 game season?

In the right scheme he can be passable.
He has above average agility and sneaky length for a 5, but he is not overly physical, and the anticipation and overall defensive instincts are not where they need to be yet.
He would do OK in high wall/switching/ballhandler trap schemes where you can take the pressure off him (similiar to how it helped KAT), but would struggle with drop. He's halfway decent defending in space and closing out, its the interior big man responsibilities that need significant polishing.

He was really starting to do some special things on the offensive end when he got hurt, nigh unguardable with the in and out dribble and fantastic finishing ability around the rim.
I'm really looking forward to seeing him take the next step.

[KGdaBom]

Naz Reid's plus/minutes numbers are dreadful. He certainly is not in top 6 and may not be in top 7.

This could simply be because he spends most of is time on the second unit, meaning he often shares the court with guys like Nowell and McLaughlin.

That is exactly why.

[Domejandro]

Bigger issue is that almost every minute he spent on the court alongside Rudy Gobert resulted in Minnesota getting absolutely dumpstered.

[KGdaBom]

Bigger issue is that almost every minute he spent on the court alongside Rudy Gobert resulted in Minnesota getting absolutely dumpstered.

They did not have success on the court at the same time that is for sure.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

We got a good starting 5. Bench will be crucial to see if we can be a contender or not. With Slomo, Naz and others, we should be much better than last year.

[shrink]

Naz Reid's plus/minutes numbers are dreadful. He certainly is not in top 6 and may not be in top 7.

This could simply be because he spends most of is time on the second unit, meaning he often shares the court with guys like Nowell and McLaughlin.

That is exactly why.

No, he played a lot of minutes last with our better players, and his Net Rtg (min 100 minutes) with all of them was negative.

-18.1 Naz Reid + Mike Conley 116 Minutes
-12.7. Naz Reid + Rudy Gobert 199 Minutes
-9.0. Naz Reid + Nickeil Alexander Walker 181 Minutes
-7.3. Naz Reid + Karl-Anthony Towns. 446 Minutes
-6.9. Naz Reid + Kyle Anderson. 514 Minutes
-5.2. Naz Reid + D’Angelo Russell. 437 Minutes
-0.9. Naz Reid + Anthony Edwards. 807 Minutes
-0.4. Naz Reid + Jaden McDaniels. 579 Minutes

MacLaughlin was his only positive NetRtg (+0.9 Net Rtg in 353 Minutes)