Naz Reid entered the NBA as an undrafted free agent with no guarantee of a long pro career.
Now the fifth-year center is officially the best reserve in the NBA after being named Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday evening.
Reid narrowly edged out Malik Monk of the Sacramento Kings to win the award. Reid received 45 first-place votes and 352 total points to Monk’s 43 and 342, respectively.
Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks was third with 81 points, followed by Norman Powell (65) of the Los Angeles Clippers and Bogdan Bogdanovic (40) of the Atlanta Hawks.
Reid is the third undrafted player to win the John Havlicek Trophy. The others are John Starks (1996-97) of the New York Knicks and Darrell Armstrong (1998-99) of the Orlando Magic.
Reid, 24, established career highs of 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 169 3-point baskets and 41.4 percent accuracy from 3-point range while helping Minnesota to a 56-26 record this season. The 169 treys are the most in NBA history for an undrafted center/power forward.
“I have to get a feel and direction for how the game is going,” Reid told TNT of his approach before entering the game. “I kind of joke around with my teammates, but it’s a feel that we want to keep the momentum going.
“We have to have the mentality to come back in the game or push the lead forward. So I think having the same mentality but also scanning the game and see what’s going on.”
Reid did start 14 games in March while star Karl-Anthony Towns was sidelined with a knee injury.
He is the first member of the Timberwolves to win the award.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Naz for being named Sixth Man of the Year,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said in a news release. “His contributions to our team this year were a key reason for our team’s success. His growth this season and attention to detail to improve his game in the offseason were a main factor in Naz becoming the best reserve man in the NBA.”
Reid played college basketball at LSU.
–Field Level Media