One Team Tried to Trade a Benchwarmer for Naz Reid and It Went Exactly How You’d Expect

A few weeks after the Timberwolves got bounced from the playoffs by the Spurs in the second round, the weird trade proposals are already rolling in. Like, genuinely weird.

Nobody expects every offseason conversation to make sense. But Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic dropped a detail that feels more like a prank call than a real negotiation. According to him, a team called up Minnesota and offered a single bench player averaging single-digit points for Naz Reid. That’s it. One guy. For the Sixth Man of the Year.

The Timberwolves didn’t even bother naming the team. Krawczynski called the offer shameless, and that’s probably being generous. Reid averaged 13.5 points and shot over 41 percent from three this season while playing solid defense. He’s exactly the kind of versatile big who fits next to Rudy Gobert or Anthony Edwards or pretty much anyone. You don’t trade that for spare parts.

Minnesota inked Reid to a three-year, $42 million extension last offseason. That contract already looks fair, and it might even age well if he keeps improving. So the idea that some front office thought they could lowball the Wolves into a one-for-one swap involving a guy who barely plays? That’s the kind of move that gets you laughed out of the room.

Julius Randle is the real trade chip here

If the Timberwolves make a significant move this summer, it’ll probably involve Julius Randle, not Reid. Minnesota needs to rework the roster around Edwards, and Randle’s $33 million salary is the obvious lever. He’s a talented scorer but his fit next to Gobert has always been clunky, and the Wolves need more shooting and defensive versatility around their star.

The problem is timing. The Spurs just added another lottery pick and Victor Wembanyama is only going to get scarier. The Thunder are loaded with assets and already ahead in the West hierarchy. Minnesota isn’t in rebuild mode, but they’re not quite contenders either. They’re stuck in the middle, which is the worst place to be when two teams ahead of you keep getting better.

Trading Reid would be counterproductive. He’s one of the few guys on the roster who spaces the floor, moves without the ball, and doesn’t need plays called for him. You keep those players. You trade the ones who need the ball to be effective, which brings us back to Randle.

There’s also the option of signing a free agent who slipped through the cracks. Somebody who can defend on the perimeter and knock down catch-and-shoot threes. That’s the type of player who unlocks Edwards’ game. But those guys don’t grow on trees, and Minnesota doesn’t have much cap space to work with.

What’s clear is that the Wolves can’t afford to stand still. The West is brutal and it’s only getting worse. One one-for-one lowball offer for Naz Reid is funny now. But if the front office doesn’t make the right moves soon, the jokes will be on them.