Naz is back!

[rapsuperstar31]

[Fischer] Sources say that the Pistons were prepared to create the financial flexibility needed to make a competitive offer to Minnesota's Naz Reid. We’ll soon see whether the Pistons pivot to a pursuit of Memphis' Santi Aldama. Detroit has also begun to show interest in Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

Source

Sources say that the Pistons were prepared to make the necessary moves to create the financial flexibility needed to make a competitive offer to Minnesota's Naz Reid. Then on Friday night, Reid took himself off the market when it emerged that he intends to sign a five-year, $125 million contract to stay with the Timberwolves.

We'll soon see whether the Pistons, with Reid now off the board, pivot to a pursuit of Memphis' Santi Aldama. We've been writing for weeks now that Detroit has explored adding a floor-spacing big man and Aldama certainly fits the profile.

Aldama, mind you, is a restricted free agent, meaning Memphis would have the right to match any offer sheet.

And sources say that the Pistons, furthermore, have begun to show interest in Minnesota's Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

[D-Loser25]

You can comfortably do that for a restricted free agent. If you do that for an unrestricted free agent, they just leave you without letting you counter.

But again, Rap, to what team? Maybe Brooklyn, but would Naz really want to go to that horrible team with no chance to be any good for just a couple million more...if they even would have offered a couple million more. Don't get me wrong...I'm happy to keep Naz here. but I think TC had to overpay because of the PR aspect...Naz is so popular here, and there might have been a revolt if he had left.

Any team willing to trade a first round pick to dump salary on Brooklyn. Lakers trade Rui and Dalton to Brooklyn and sign and trade Reid. Clippers trade Powell to Brooklyn, sign and trade Reid. Miami sends Rozier to Brooklyn, and sign and trades Naz. Etc.

You think that a team like the lakers or clippers could offload enough salary to Brooklyn to get them low enough to give Naz a contract like this? That’s not how it works. I’m sure there are a few more teams that could get low enough by trading a first, but if a team wants to trade a first for the right to give Naz 5/125, I’d say go for it.

I totally get where some of you are coming from with the team morale and PR argument, but I just strongly disagree with that approach. With Ant, you give him his money and don’t screw with him. With everyone else, it’s a business and you treat it as such. It’s very likely that this will affect our ability to max either dilly or Shannon if they explode over the next 3 years. You don’t pay guys money that you don’t have to and you don’t give them a player option in the 5th year if you don’t have to. That’s just stupid business.

[D-Loser25]

Very good deal for Naz, but I have to agree with Kek that it seems like an overpay. I don't think I see any other non-starters on the first two pages of Drew's list.

Like most of us, I'm gonna miss NAW.

FNG - I think it’s clear the Wolves front office views Naz as our starting PF eventually if not right away during the five-year term of this deal. And he wasn’t just a guy off the bench; he was the team’s 6th man with an 6th man of the year award under his belt while averaging over 27 minutes per game last season. I haven’t dug into which players with comparable salaries are not starters. I don’t think Jrue Holiday started for Celtics’ last season at $32.4M. I think Hartenstein came off the bench except when Holmgren was out. Hartenstein’s minutes per game last season were essentially identical to Naz Reid’s. I’m sure there some other examples. So the salary isn’t even out of line for a 6th man. But again, I don’t think there’s much doubt that the Wolves brass envision Naz as the Wolves starter at some point.

I'm not convinced, Lip...still seems like a significant overpay to me for three reasons:

1) Several posters here have questioned the narrative that there were several teams bidding for Naz, that TC was not bidding against himself. But I don't know, other than possibly Brooklyn, what teams actually had the cap space to compete with us, and nobody has been able to answer this question.
2) you mention his 6moy award. The three top vote getters this year (Pritchard, Jerome, and Beasley) combined don't make what we're going to pay Naz!
3) I'm not convinced our leadership sees him as our starting PF of the future. I see him as the classic scorer off the bench...able to put up points in bunches, but defensively challenged and not one to get his teammates involved (only 3 assists per 36 compared to Ju's 5.3). Maybe he learns how to be a better defender and distributor, but I'm skeptical. I'm glad we kept him, but 5/100 would have made more sense to me.

Yeah, I’d be fine with 5/100. Naz has been a good player and that gets him security and life changing money. I’m already assuming that Naz will be our starter as early as next year and I still think 5/125 is too high for him as a starter. In my opinion, he melted in the playoffs and that should have lost him 25 mil of that contract and the 5th year player option. 5/100, with no player option (4/80 would be fine too)

[Monster]

But again, Rap, to what team? Maybe Brooklyn, but would Naz really want to go to that horrible team with no chance to be any good for just a couple million more...if they even would have offered a couple million more. Don't get me wrong...I'm happy to keep Naz here. but I think TC had to overpay because of the PR aspect...Naz is so popular here, and there might have been a revolt if he had left.

Any team willing to trade a first round pick to dump salary on Brooklyn. Lakers trade Rui and Dalton to Brooklyn and sign and trade Reid. Clippers trade Powell to Brooklyn, sign and trade Reid. Miami sends Rozier to Brooklyn, and sign and trades Naz. Etc.

You think that a team like the lakers or clippers could offload enough salary to Brooklyn to get them low enough to give Naz a contract like this? That’s not how it works. I’m sure there are a few more teams that could get low enough by trading a first, but if a team wants to trade a first for the right to give Naz 5/125, I’d say go for it.

I totally get where some of you are coming from with the team morale and PR argument, but I just strongly disagree with that approach. With Ant, you give him his money and don’t screw with him. With everyone else, it’s a business and you treat it as such. It’s very likely that this will affect our ability to max either dilly or Shannon if they explode over the next 3 years. You don’t pay guys money that you don’t have to and you don’t give them a player option in the 5th year if you don’t have to. That’s just stupid business.

Personally I don't think PR or team morale had much to do with this deal.

You don't think Naz was worth what he got paid. The Wolves did. It seems pretty simple to me. It also seems there are enough reports out there that teams were willing to pay that money to Naz. You wouldn't have wanted to do that and that's a fair opinion but the Wolves felt he was worth that. We will see if he is worth it.

One thing I'm happy about is that it's resolved and we can go forward and the Wolves have an idea of what their roster is and what they need to do to add to it. Not knowing for sure if Naz was coming back while navigating FA could mean missing out on some opportunities.

[D-Loser25]

Any team willing to trade a first round pick to dump salary on Brooklyn. Lakers trade Rui and Dalton to Brooklyn and sign and trade Reid. Clippers trade Powell to Brooklyn, sign and trade Reid. Miami sends Rozier to Brooklyn, and sign and trades Naz. Etc.

You think that a team like the lakers or clippers could offload enough salary to Brooklyn to get them low enough to give Naz a contract like this? That’s not how it works. I’m sure there are a few more teams that could get low enough by trading a first, but if a team wants to trade a first for the right to give Naz 5/125, I’d say go for it.

I totally get where some of you are coming from with the team morale and PR argument, but I just strongly disagree with that approach. With Ant, you give him his money and don’t screw with him. With everyone else, it’s a business and you treat it as such. It’s very likely that this will affect our ability to max either dilly or Shannon if they explode over the next 3 years. You don’t pay guys money that you don’t have to and you don’t give them a player option in the 5th year if you don’t have to. That’s just stupid business.

Personally I don't think PR or team morale had much to do with this deal.

You don't think Naz was worth what he got paid. The Wolves did. It seems pretty simple to me. It also seems there are enough reports out there that teams were willing to pay that money to Naz. You wouldn't have wanted to do that and that's a fair opinion but the Wolves felt he was worth that. We will see if he is worth it.

One thing I'm happy about is that it's resolved and we can go forward and the Wolves have an idea of what their roster is and what they need to do to add to it. Not knowing for sure if Naz was coming back while navigating FA could mean missing out on some opportunities.

That’s fair. I’m just seeing the Detroit report. I’d still say 5/100 with no player option and if you wanna go we still have Randle. It’s just a matter of opinion though. Now that this is done, If we can trade Randle here this offseason for a starting PG and backup big, I’ll feel a lot better.

[60WinTim]

Monster commented on: at least the NAZ issue is resolved so the next issues can be addressed. That is one thing TC tends to do: makes decisions quickly. The Randle issue will be resolved tomorrow, along with those others options. And if there is anything left for free agency, I expect that will be resolved quickly as well. In years past, it seems our search for free agents would always be pro-longed.

[kekgeek]

Kek, some fairly good arguments here by some of the guys as to why the Naz deal is good for us, but I still don't know if I'm convinced. i know your first impression was the same as mine...seems like an overpay. Have you changed your stance?

Obviously I am probably the lowest on the board when it comes to Naz but I do think he is a good player and from a fan perspective I am excited that he is back. I am really torn on the contract, he will be the 3rd highest off the bench player in the NBA next year (Middleton and Rozier) and only 1 of 5 bench players to make over 20 million a year (Give or take 2 both ways).

Things I like about the extension
- Naz is still young, like we talk about TSJ upside on this board and TSJ is less than a year younger than Naz
- We didn't just flat out lose the asset, Naz would of just left without a sign and trade the wolves would be in a weird long term position
- We can use Naz and Rudy Contract to be able to acquire any player in the NBA via trade salary wise. That was a big hiccup in the potential KD trade that they had to add so many players to make the money work, those 2 players will be able to get us to any player in the NBA next season
- Naz is still a very good 3 point shooter and can create off the dribble.
- We have no player who will be up for a big pay raise for at least 3 years. We also don't know if people like Rob and TSJ will deserve a huge pay raise and I doubt DDV gets a 15 million a year pay increase. So internally our cap is not going to see a gigantic worry of losing a player because of this contract. Like for example Rudy will be off the books when/if Rob or TSJ need a huge pay raise.

Things I do not like about the extension
- Like I said above Wolves are one of 4 teams paying a bench player over 20 million a year and probably the only team that has legit title aspirations doing so. (Clippers and Powell might be the exception)
- Naz is sort of stuck at the 4. He is a terrible small ball five and the sample size of him playing the 3 is limited (Numbers are good in small sample size), I just personally like positional flexibility in my high paid players. Also I think he blocks Jaden playing more 4 what I think currently is his best position
-I don't think Naz has a ton of value around the league, a stretch 4, with rebounding faults, defensive faults, foul prone and is not a playmaker for others I think does not have gigantic value.
- Can Naz ried have a good playoff series one time. He has played in 3 playoff seasons and he usually shows up for 1 game a series. He was trash for the third season in a row in the playoffs. It worries me a ton that he consistently has no showed when it matters and paying a guy top 75 contract in the NBA I would like that guy to be a non negative in the playoffs.
- Weird log jam at the 4 and 5 positions, I would say 8 of our 14 players best position is a the 4 or 5 (Possibly 9 if TSJ is a good 4). Just a weird roster construction.



Overall I think it is an overpay but I am not pissed about it, I will get upset though if Naz shows no improvement going forward, he is no longer this cheap luxury piece, Naz now makes top 75 money in the league we need him to consistently bring value to winning. No more excuses.

Sorry to Tim having to deal with my Naz is in and the other team is scoring every possession at the rim rants in the GDT.

[AussieWolf3]

Some blind stats

Pts/Reb/Ast

14.7/4.8/3.2--- 22.8M this year
17.0/4/1.4--- 23.3M
22.2/5.6/2.0---23.4M
22.2/3.9/4.4--- 24.4M

Naz as a starter this year (numbers aren't exact)

21.1/10.3/3.6/1.6

Wanna guess the name on those players?

If the plan is for Naz to start than I think it's worth it. I understand it a lot less if they bring Randle back with an extension

[rapsuperstar31]

Some blind stats

Pts/Reb/Ast

14.7/4.8/3.2--- 22.8M this year
17.0/4/1.4--- 23.3M
22.2/5.6/2.0---23.4M
22.2/3.9/4.4--- 24.4M

Naz as a starter this year (numbers aren't exact)

21.1/10.3/3.6/1.6

Wanna guess the name on those players?

If the plan is for Naz to start than I think it's worth it. I understand it a lot less if they bring Randle back with an extension

If we are extending Randle, it needs to be a contract that can be moved at any time. It can't be an unmovable contract. Losing Randle for nothing while it would give us a good chance to avoid the tax aprons entirely, you wouldn't be able to get that salary slot back for future trades, unless you gave NAW a huge contract that might not be movable. Having Randle at 30 million is easier to add up in a Giannis, Fox, Garland, type trade in future years.

[FNG]

Kek, some fairly good arguments here by some of the guys as to why the Naz deal is good for us, but I still don't know if I'm convinced. i know your first impression was the same as mine...seems like an overpay. Have you changed your stance?

Obviously I am probably the lowest on the board when it comes to Naz but I do think he is a good player and from a fan perspective I am excited that he is back. I am really torn on the contract, he will be the 3rd highest off the bench player in the NBA next year (Middleton and Rozier) and only 1 of 5 bench players to make over 20 million a year (Give or take 2 both ways).

Things I like about the extension
- Naz is still young, like we talk about TSJ upside on this board and TSJ is less than a year younger than Naz
- We didn't just flat out lose the asset, Naz would of just left without a sign and trade the wolves would be in a weird long term position
- We can use Naz and Rudy Contract to be able to acquire any player in the NBA via trade salary wise. That was a big hiccup in the potential KD trade that they had to add so many players to make the money work, those 2 players will be able to get us to any player in the NBA next season
- Naz is still a very good 3 point shooter and can create off the dribble.
- We have no player who will be up for a big pay raise for at least 3 years. We also don't know if people like Rob and TSJ will deserve a huge pay raise and I doubt DDV gets a 15 million a year pay increase. So internally our cap is not going to see a gigantic worry of losing a player because of this contract. Like for example Rudy will be off the books when/if Rob or TSJ need a huge pay raise.

Things I do not like about the extension
- Like I said above Wolves are one of 4 teams paying a bench player over 20 million a year and probably the only team that has legit title aspirations doing so. (Clippers and Powell might be the exception)
- Naz is sort of stuck at the 4. He is a terrible small ball five and the sample size of him playing the 3 is limited (Numbers are good in small sample size), I just personally like positional flexibility in my high paid players. Also I think he blocks Jaden playing more 4 what I think currently is his best position
-I don't think Naz has a ton of value around the league, a stretch 4, with rebounding faults, defensive faults, foul prone and is not a playmaker for others I think does not have gigantic value.
- Can Naz ried have a good playoff series one time. He has played in 3 playoff seasons and he usually shows up for 1 game a series. He was trash for the third season in a row in the playoffs. It worries me a ton that he consistently has no showed when it matters and paying a guy top 75 contract in the NBA I would like that guy to be a non negative in the playoffs.
- Weird log jam at the 4 and 5 positions, I would say 8 of our 14 players best position is a the 4 or 5 (Possibly 9 if TSJ is a good 4). Just a weird roster construction.



Overall I think it is an overpay but I am not pissed about it, I will get upset though if Naz shows no improvement going forward, he is no longer this cheap luxury piece, Naz now makes top 75 money in the league we need him to consistently bring value to winning. No more excuses.

Sorry to Tim having to deal with my Naz is in and the other team is scoring every possession at the rim rants in the GDT.

Very good summary, Kek. I think I'm exactly where you are. My happiness about keeping Naz on the team is much greater than my questioning of whether we over paid or not. And I probably blindly trust TC almost as much as anyone on this board, so who am I to question whether he paid too much or not. Glad he's back.