Nas Reid didn’t last long in the free agency market, especially since he’s been very clear about where he wants to be. The young center wanted to stay in Minnesota and let everyone around him know that his hope was to stay where he started his career.
Although much of the team’s salary cap is for their top men, the Timberwolves had no intention of letting him go.
“I started my career here. I wanted to continue my career here. I’ve been improving every year here too, so it only made sense, ”emphasized the player. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else.”
Home: Nas Reid re-signed with Minnesota # Timberwolf Because he doesn’t want to be anywhere else! 🙏👏🏀 pic.twitter.com/niPhDDMKdP
– Skorn North July 5, 2023
The 23-year-old just signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Wolves last week, and he’s as happy as he can be. The athlete took his time to the press on Wednesday to talk about his comeback and what’s to come in this upcoming campaign.
Reid knows his role as a reserve will continue into the campaign ahead, as the coach prioritizes both Rudi Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns as key starting centre-backs, just as they experiment with playing two big men at the same time on the field.
However, last season Towns suffered a severe calf strain and missed a total of 52 games while recovering, giving Reid a stronger rotational role in the team. The player went on to play 68 games for Wolves last season and averaged 11.5 points with a shooting efficiency of 53.7% from the floor.
Many fans thought he was sorely missed after he fractured his left wrist during the last week of the regular season and had to be sidelined during their first-round game series defeat against Denver.
“Everyone has this feeling in the year of contracting: ‘What’s going to happen?'” Reid admitted. “I stuck to my roots. They believed in me, and I believed in the program, too. We got together and made the deal.”
The Wolves want to continue building the team around Anthony Edwards, as he recently signed a five-year contract at Minnesota
Just as All-Star Anthony Edwards agrees to Max’s rookie five-year deal, the young player knows the team wants to continue building the roster around him. With Towns and Gobert’s popular center partnership may not last as long as the new shooting guard deal does, Reid becomes an attractive asset because he still has many years to go.
“I can’t tell you how many times his teammates have called and said, ‘Let’s get Nas done.’ I tell them, ‘Let’s get Nas done,'” claimed Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations.
Take a look at Nas’ full commentary on how he felt returning to Minnesota after hitting free agency:
This summer, the team’s front office has also devoted significant energy to improving roster depth after reaching agreements to retain Tour Brown Jr., Chuck Melton and Nickell Alexander-Walker.
“Nas has such a versatile game. His skill, that opens up a lot of lineup flexibility with our team, whether he’s backup at 4 or backup at 5,” said coach Chris Finch. “Heck, we’d probably try to play them all together, just because there’s so much skill there — and size.”