Timberwolves’ Naz Reid wins 2024 NBA Sixth Man of the Year

By Jon Krawczynski, Anthony Slater and Tobias Bass

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid was named the 2024 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.

Reid earned 45 first-place votes and 352 total points, narrowly beating out the Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk, who had 43 first-place votes and 342 total points. Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr. — the third finalist — earned five first-place votes and 81 total points.

Reid played in 81 games this season while starting 14, the most of the three finalists.

The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year. pic.twitter.com/wfP9hbqTOQ

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 24, 2024

The 6-foot-9 center becomes the third undrafted player to win this award, joining John Starks (1997) and Darrell Armstrong (1999). Reid, 24, averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 24.2 minutes per game while scoring 1,090 total points.

He is the first player in franchise history to win the award. Wally Szczerbiak (one in 2004-05) and LaPhonso Ellis (10 in 2000-01) are the only other players in team history to get a first-place vote for Sixth Man of the Year.

Reid shot 47.7 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from 3 as the Timberwolves went 56-26, finishing third in the Western Conference.

What this means for Reid

Reid has made no secret of his desire to win the award all season long. He has embraced the role to the fullest, taking pride in injecting energy and skill into the second unit when he comes into the game. He plays on one of the biggest teams in the NBA, and it would have been understandable if Reid looked to head elsewhere in search of a bigger role after the Wolves traded for Rudy Gobert last season to pair with Karl-Anthony Towns in the frontcourt.

There was no immediate path to a starting spot, but Reid stayed put. He signed a three-year, $42 million extension last summer and has been worth every penny this season. His ability to play defense alongside Towns or Gobert, and occasionally out there with both of them, has helped unlock this unique roster construction.

The winning the Timberwolves have enjoyed this season has validated Reid’s decision to stay where his career began. Now he has some hardware to show for it. For a player who was undrafted out of LSU in 2019, it has been a remarkable rise. — Jon Krawczynski, Timberwolves senior writer

Reid’s arrival

This is not just a victory for Reid. It’s a victory for the Timberwolves organization and the market. Reid is one of the best player development stories in team history. He came in as a doughy but gifted big man, but it wasn’t clear if he had a place in the NBA. Some thought he was too big to play power forward and too small to play center. Reid reshaped his body, losing weight and becoming quicker on his feet. He has paired that with an incredible handle and a deft shooting touch to make him a matchup nightmare.

He started 14 games down the stretch after Towns went down with a knee injury and put up strong numbers to make sure the Wolves stayed near the top of the Western Conference. Reid is the definition of a sixth man: He can step into the starting lineup when an important part of the team is injured. — Krawczynski

Spreading the love

Reid will surely celebrate the award, but Timberwolves fans might be even more excited. Watching him blossom from an unknown name in 2019 into a force on the second unit has made Reid wildly popular in Minnesota. Rare is the example in Timberwolves lore of the franchise discovering a diamond in the rough that no other team saw and polishing that diamond into the type of gem that belongs in a crown.

Reid is probably neck and neck with Anthony Edwards when it comes to public approval ratings in Minnesota. The team gave away a beach towel at a game this spring, and it has become so coveted that it is going for $100 and on eBay. Every time he enters the game, Target Center’s energy rises. His name has become an all-encompassing mission statement for fans, a greeting, a congratulation, an agreement.

“Hey there.” Naz Reid. “Great win.” Naz Reid. “The Wolves are for real.” Naz Reid. — Krawczynski

Did Monk get snubbed?

He will surely think so. Monk has been campaigning for the award for the last month or so, asking media members in the last week whether they voted for him.

He was a heavy favorite in March, but Luka Dončić fell on his knee and sprained his MCL, ending his season with a handful of games to go. Here’s the tough reality for both Monk and the Kings: That injury likely stripped him of the award (check out the narrow voting margin) and significantly impacted their playoff hopes.

Monk said at exit interviews if he wasn’t injured they’d currently be playing. Either way, he will have a robust free-agent market this summer. The Kings can offer Monk a max of four years and around $78 million and there’s fear that an outside suitor may stretch a long-term offer above that. — Anthony Slater, Warriors senior writer

Required reading

(Photo: David Sherman / Getty Images)