The Minnesota Timberwolves accomplished one of their biggest offseason goals on Thursday morning when they reportedly made a trade with the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball. Ball gives the Timberwolves a ball-handling point guard and distributor to take pressure off Anthony Edwards, but it came at the cost of Naz Reid (along with a 2033 first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps and three second-round picks).
To say Reid was a fan favorite in Minnesota is an understatement and Thursday’s news is a sad day for Wolves fans who carried towels and even got tattoos with his name on it. But it also was a premature ending of what could have been a massive opportunity for Reid to become an even bigger star with the Timberwolves.
Naz Reid’s departure was necessary for Timberwolves to add LaMelo Ball
Before Thursday morning, Reid’s stock was pointing up. The Timberwolves salary-dumped Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night and The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski reported shortly after that Reid would be the starting power forward for the 2026-27 season.
Promoting Reid to the starting lineup made plenty of sense. The five-year, $125 million contract extension he signed last summer had an increasing salary in each season and with $23.2 million set to go on the books next year per Spotrac, he was being paid more like a starter than his current sixth man role.
Reid was also an ascending talent. He initially broke out by winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2023-24 and finished in the top five in each of the past two seasons. With a bigger role, it felt like Reid had another level to reach.
But the biggest gut punch for Wolves fans is they wanted to see it happen. An undrafted free agent out of LSU in 2019, Reid had worked his way up to this point and Minnesota fans wanted to see it through. If it weren’t for Anthony Edwards, Reid may have been the most popular player on the team. But there are several benefits in moving on from Reid.
The first is that the Wolves didn’t give up their interior defense with Rudy Gobert. The Hornets were a logical trade partner as they looked to improve at the center position, but Gobert may be necessary with Ball at point guard. Keeping Jaden McDaniels after the Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors was a big win for the Wolves’ defense, but having Gobert as a final boss in the paint helps take some of the load off the perimeter including Ball and Edwards.
The move also clears the runway for second-year forward Joan Beringer. Beringer showed promise at times last season, averaging 17.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. While he was likely to fill Reid’s role off the bench, there’s a chance he could now be in the starting lineup and get his chance to take off entering his age-20 season.
But perhaps the biggest benefit is that Ball is more of a legitimate offensive threat than Reid.
Ball averaged just 20.1 points with 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Hornets last season but he was much better the year before with averages of 25.2 points, 7.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds. While Reid has a higher overall field goal percentage, Ball can attack from 3-point range with 10.3 3-point attempts per game at a 36.8 percent clip last season.
In the end, Reid may have been worth the price to bring that type of offense to Minnesota. While he may have taken a step forward, it wouldn’t have solved the Wolves’ biggest problem at point guard and it may have stunted the development of Beringer, who the front office remains high on.
This may be hard for Wolves fans to digest, given Reid's importance to the fan base. Regardless, Reid was one of the best ways to make this happen and it ended his breakout before it even started.
