Naz Reid, player option
One of the most underrated parts of the Minnesota Timberwolves' rise to prominence in the Western Conference over the last couple of years has been the play of Naz Reid. Sure, Anthony Edwards deserves a good amount of the praise, but I'm not sure where the Wolves would be without the versatile play of Reid - especially this season after the team decided to part ways with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Even if Reid has already reached his peak (which is far from a certainty), the argument can be made that he's already surpassed expectations for his career. Reid went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft and had to work his way up from a two-way contract to what will likely be a huge payday coming for him this offseason. Reid continues to improve as a player and is in the midst of the best season of his career. Reid is averaging 15 points and six rebounds on 47 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Just as he prepares for free agency, the expectation is that he's going to get a huge deal. At least for now, it would be extremely surprising if Reid didn't end up opting out of the final year of his contract with the Wolves. That's not to say that he is going to be looking to move on from Minnesota, but that he's going to do what's best for him at this point in his career. At the peak of his career, it would make sense to go out and secure the life-changing deal for himself and his family.
But that's also part of the reason why the Wolves decided to part ways with KAT. In hopes of gaining more financial flexibility, the Wolves made the difficult decision to trade KAT. At least part of that thinking revolved around creating more financial space and flexibility to keep a player like Reid around. Whether that will end up being the case remains to be seen, but you can bet the Wolves will be working like crazy to keep him around. If they are successful, it's going to cost the Wolves a pretty penny.