Report: Naz Reid expected to decline player option, enter free agency in offseason

Minnesota Timberwolves big man Naz Reid won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season, and he’s in the middle of a great 2024-25 campaign as well.

As Reid continues to raise his play — and potentially his value around the league — it appears that he’s looking to get a bigger contract.

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, Reid is expected to opt out of the final season in his contract to become an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason.

“Reid, who is the league’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year for a few more months, possesses a $15 million player option for 2025-26 that many of those same strategists expect he’ll decline in search of a richer arrangement in the summer,” Fischer wrote. “His scoring, rebounding and assists have all increased since last season’s 6MOY success and Reid continues to shoot better than 40% from 3-point range. The floor spacing he provides, both when playing alongside [Rudy] Gobert or [Julius] Randle and when operating as the lone big man for Wolves coach Chris Finch, is a key element of Minnesota’s offense.”

Reid has a player option for just over $15 million in the 2025-26 season.

This season, Reid is averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from 3. Recently, Reid was thrust into the starting lineup with the Timberwolves dealing with injuries to Randle and Gobert (neither played in last night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder).

In his last 10 games (all starts), Reid is averaging an impressive 20.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per night while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 35.4 percent from 3.

There’s no doubt that the Timberwolves would love to keep Reid in Minnesota, but it’ll be interesting to see what his market is in free agency.

Last season, Reid was a key cog for the Timberwolves as they made a run to the Western Conference Finals. While Minnesota ultimately came up short in the series against the Dallas Mavericks, it proved that it had a core that could make a deep postseason run in a loaded West.

However, the Timberwolves broke up that core in the offseason, as they traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for a package that brought in Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota.

Unfortunately, the Timberwolves haven’t had the same success this season. They currently hold the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and are just four games over .500 at 31-27. While Minnesota could still make the playoffs, it is unlikely to end up with a top-three seed like it had in the 2023-24 season.