When the Minnesota Timberwolves were forced to play without Karl-Anthony Towns, their All-Star, Naz Reid had been a valuable substitute player.
Reid performed admirably throughout, even having to enter the starting lineup, and he helped the Timberwolves have one of their greatest seasons ever.
Reid almost defeated Sacramento’s Malik Monk to win the title of NBA Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday for his achievements. The league’s best reserve player is recognized with this award, which Reid is the third non-drafted player to receive.
Reid averaged 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game over the course of the season, setting career highs in both categories. He played in 81 games. For 67 of those games, he started the game as a substitute, which allowed him to become acclimated to the situation before having a big effect.
“I play around with my teammates a little bit, but it’s like a saying where I feel like we have to keep the momentum going,” Reid remarked in a post-award interview.
“We must adopt the mindset to either extend our lead or claw our way back into the game.”
Reid, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall, was instrumental in the Timberwolves’ success this season, helping them to continue their momentum and finish with a 56-26 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. They are now up 2-0 in their playoff series against the Phoenix Suns.
Even with Towns missing eighteen games due to injury, the Timberwolves were still winning, particularly from March 16 to April 10, when they went 10-3 and Reid started twelve of those games. Reid scored 17.1 points on 45.4% of his shots throughout this time.
Reid won 45 first-place votes, to Monk’s 43, from a panel of 99 reporters and broadcasters in the Sixth Man of the Year election. Reid finished with 352 points, and Monk with 342, after both players received 39 votes in the second place and 10 votes in the third place.
Third-place finishers Bobby Portis Jr. of Milwaukee, Norman Powell of the Clippers, and Bogdan Bogdanović of Atlanta were the next two finishers.
Despite not being selected in the 2019 draft out of LSU, Reid signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves. He got a multiyear contract extension last summer after making an impression on the team. His 843 points this season off the bench are second in team history.
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