Naz Reid has some strong ideas on what it will take for the Timberwolves to take it to the next level.
Minnesota lost to the Spurs in Game 6 on Friday, which ended its season in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference finals in back-to-back seasons before this year.
In the end-of-season media availability, Reid — a former Sixth Man of the Year winner who has developed from an undrafted rookie in 2019 to one of the core players during his tenure — spoke on why the team keeps falling short.
“Probably just moodiness. You look at both of those teams, and they’re playing for one another,” Reid said, referring to the Spurs and Thunder, who will play in the Western Conference finals.
“They’re excited to be on the court with one another. They’re a team where they’re selfless, like I mentioned before. So I think just probably some of those aspects. I think we have more than enough talent. I think we have more than enough guys bringing it to the table and can compete at a high level, but just being less moody. I think that’s just the name of the game for us, just being less moody and more selfless and just carrying ourselves with championship aspirations like we’ve done before.”
There’s online speculation among Minnesota fans and NBA observers as to whether or not this is a jab at Julius Randle, in particular.
In the season-ending 139-109 loss, Randle shot 1-for-8 with three points and was a team-worst -34 in just 24 minutes.
Reid, who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, along with seven boards, averaged 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from deep in 12 playoff games this year.
It was Reid’s best postseason performance, statistically, in his career.
Notably, the Timberwolves have some financial concerns to address, with Rudy Gobert ($36 million) and Randle ($33 million) entering the second-to-last year of their respective contracts, with player options to follow for the 2027-28 season — making them potential free agents next year and potential trade targets for Minnesota this summer.
Reid will make north of $23 million next season and will be on the second year of a five-year extension, keeping him under contract for the rest of the decade, with a player option for 2029-2030.
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