When the Minnesota Timberwolves entered the 2023 NBA offseason, the consensus of many NBA analysts and pundits pointed to the Timberwolves’ efforts to re-sign Naz Reid as the litmus test to the future of Karl-Anthony Towns with the team. In essence, extending Naz Reid would be a bad omen for Towns and his future with the team.
The thinking was that the Timberwolves are cash-strapped, and extending Reid to an already deep center position would act like a wind vane, giving away the direction and the urgency of the team’s dealing with Towns this off-season as well. The Timberwolves, so the logic portended, cannot afford to pay for Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Naz Reid at their current salary projections, and still have enough wiggle room to build a competitive roster around them.