Timberwolves reward breakout center with extension and raise

As Woj notes, Reid enjoyed a well-time breakout 2022-23 season with the playoff-bound Timberwolves, operating as the 42-40 club’s third big while averaging career bests of 11.5 PPG – on .537/.346/.677 shooting splits – and 4.9 RPG. He also chipped in 1.1 APG, 0.8 BPG and 0.6 SPG across his 68 contests with the team.

The 23-year-old first joined Minnesota on a two-way contract after going undrafted out of LSU in 2019. By his second season in 2020-21, Reid had carved out a major rotation role with the team.

This reported new contract represents a massive pay upgrade for the 6-foot-9 reserve. Reid's $1.9M minimum salary in 2022-23 had represented his prior pay peak.

Per Matt Williams of ESPN (Twitter link), Reid averaged 0.78 points per minute following the 2023 All-Star break, more than any other NBA center aside from eventual league MVP Joel Embiid.

Before Minnesota offloaded significant assets to the Utah Jazz in a trade for expensive former All-Star big man Rudy Gobert last summer, Reid had seemed to potentially be in line to form the team’s frontcourt of the future alongside maximum-salaried power forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns.

Reid had emerged as one of the premium big man prospects heading into free agency this summer, potentially capable of earning more money and a starting gig on another team given his upside, so it’s fascinating that he opted to stick with his current team and role.