Tag: Naz Reid

The Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns trade broke up the best way to beat Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets

Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets should be overjoyed about the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

As long as Nikola Jokic is in his prime and healthy, the Denver Nuggets will likely always be considered one of the NBA’s premier championship contenders.

But winning a title in the NBA is often about ideal matchups. Every team — and this is without exception — has its fatal flaw, an unavoidable kryptonite. A superstar like Jokic is transcendent, but he and his Nuggets teammates are not unbeatable.

After the Minnesota Timberwolves dealt away perennial All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks on Friday night, my first thought went to the status of Jokic and the Nuggets. This is not because Minnesota, Anthony Edwards, and Towns ended the Nuggets’ 2024 season in a dramatic Game 7 in May, but precisely because Towns’ absence means the Timberwolves no longer have the ultimate trump card to overcome Denver’s three-time MVP in a heated postseason setting.

The dreaded, infamous two-big lineup.

With everyone healthy and at their best, Jokic’s Nuggets two most notable playoff losses have come at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020 Western Conference Finals and to last year’s Timberwolves in the second round.

How both teams primarily beat Denver is no coincidence.

In 2020, the Lakers used a rotation of three bigs featuring Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and JaVale McGee to overwhelm Jokic. Jokic is arguably the most skilled center in the league — especially thanks to his all-time floater game. He is a one-man matchup problem who can score at will against sizable NBA defense in isolation or the post as he pleases. However, the Lakers ensured that they always had someone with size and athleticism fronting Jokic while the other forward roamed as a low-man backup in case the initial line of defense was lost.

With an exhausted Jokic still maturing as an All-NBA-caliber player, the Lakers cruised to a five-game series win. Though, Davis had his remarkable individual moments on offense, too:

The two-big lineup is not an unbeatable coverage for Jokic, per se, who has shown he can find a way to the rim and get a quality shot off anyway. But that requires the Serbian star to use a lot more of his energy. This sort of mix wears him down over time. When Jokic is tired and gassed, he’s eventually no longer working tirelessly for quality shots, he’s settling for random 3-pointers, and he’s often even failing to swallow a litany of defensive rebounds his reputation is centered around.

The Nuggets, in effect, are a shell of themselves with Jokic in this state.

The Timberwolves had a near-carbon copy of this equation to defend Jokic. They could use Towns or power forward Naz Reid to front him while four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert roamed, waiting to send over his help defense or to block the shot. To his credit, Jokic still found ways to make an impact against this defensive coverage — his masterful 40-point, 13-assist, seven-rebound effort in Game 5 of the series comes to mind — but again, that takes a lot out of him. And Towns certainly seemed like he challenged Jokic the most of all three defenders.

There’s also a reason the Timberwolves don’t usually prefer putting Gobert on Jokic in single coverage because this is what happens:

By his high standards, after having to metaphorically break his back against Towns, Gobert, and Reid all series, Jokic almost appeared ephemeral in stunning back-to-back losses in Game 6 and 7. It’s because the Timberwolves had the perfect defensive coverage to combat his skill. With all due respect to Julius Randle, he is not nearly the same kind of defender as Towns, let alone as talented.

And if the Timberwolves want to use more of Reid against Jokic while Gobert roams, well, I’ll let the screenshot below from their most recent playoff battle tell the story about how that would likely go:

With Towns out of the picture now, Minnesota got a lot worse against Denver, specifically, as a result.

None of this is to say that the Nuggets’ path through the Western Conference to another NBA championship this season has parted like the Red Sea. The West remains a daunting gauntlet, with juggernaut contenders like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, and yes, even the Timberwolves without Towns, still standing in Denver’s way, among others.

But if you’re Denver, you likely always feel great about your chances in any playoff series the easier Jokic has it. The looser his individual matchups are, the more likely it is the Nuggets will find a way to beat you in a back-and-forth best-of-seven. I would not be shocked to learn that Denver’s front office celebrated this Towns trade just as much as anyone actually involved in the deal. As Denver aims for two titles in three years, this might have been the organization’s biggest move of the offseason, and it didn’t even have to lift a finger.

As it currently stands, no other West championship contender has proven they have the ultimate antidote to trying to beat Jokic. With Towns, the Timberwolves did. But that reality is dead and gone now.

It should be music to the Nuggets’ ears.

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NBA Twitter reacts to Mavericks beating Timberwolves in Game 2: ‘Bully Luka’

The Dallas Mavericks staged an impressive comeback to secure a thrilling 109-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Luka Doncic led the way for the Mavericks with a triple-double …

The Dallas Mavericks staged an impressive comeback to secure a thrilling 109-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

Luka Doncic led the way for the Mavericks with a triple-double tallying 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists, hitting the winning three-pointer over Rudy Gobert. Kyrie Irving chipped in with 20 points, while centers Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively combined for 30 points on 14-of-16 shooting.

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns struggled with their shooting, while Naz Reid, who scored 23 points off the bench, missed the potential game-winning shot.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Mavs winning Game 2.

Former LSU basketball player Naz Reid finding spotlight in NBA playoffs

Naz Reid has helped the Timberwolves jump out to a 2-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals

Five years after leaving LSU, former Tigers’ basketball star [autotag]Naz Reid[/autotag] is playing a pivotal role in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ NBA playoff run.

The Timberwolves jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. Reid hit double-digits in both games, scoring 16 in game one and following up with 14 more in game two.

Most of that production came from behind the three-point line. Reid is six of 12 from deep to start the series.

But perhaps his biggest impact has been on defense. The Nuggets shot 0-11 from the field when guarded by Reid in game two with Reid recording four blocks. Adding to his block total, Reid’s come up with two steals this series too.

Reid proved to be an impact player the moment he joined the league. After spending one year at LSU, he averaged 9.0 points per game as a rookie before upping that total to 11.2 in his second year.

He posted a career-high this season with 13.5 points per game while shooting 41.4% from behind the arch.

LSU’s Sweet 16 team from 2019 was one of the most talented teams in program history, but so far, Reid is the only one to go on and find sustained NBA success.

Reid will take the floor again when the Timberwolves head to Denver to continue the series with game three on Friday night. You can catch the action on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. CT.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Nikola Jokic’s dry joke about the Timberwolves’ big men sets the stage for the Nuggets’ toughest test yet

Nikola Jokic always tells the truth.

The Denver Nuggets are the reigning NBA champions with Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world and the likely soon-to-be three-time MVP. They will need him to start playing like it to advance past the resurgent Minnesota Timberwolves, a fellow NBA Finals-caliber opponent.

And he knows it.

On Saturday night, after the Nuggets dropped a disappointing Game 1 at home, Jokic predictably played it cool during his postgame press conference. Even though the Nuggets got off to yet another slow start and were “out-clutched” by Anthony Edwards and his friends, Jokic didn’t seem all that troubled. This sort of even-keeled approach has served him well in his nine-year career.

But Jokic’s dry joke about Minnesota’s three primary big men — Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Naz Reid — was revealing. While undoubtedly intended as respect for his opponent, it was probably also Jokic acknowledging the tall (pun not intended) test in front of him and his team:

Jokic isn’t lying. Denver could use another viable big man, even just some spot minutes, to throw into its rotation. Because what the Timberwolves can do to the Nuggets that most other teams can’t is throw three different high-quality big men at him.

Gobert is a likely soon-to-be four-time Defensive Player of the Year. Towns is one of the most gifted seven-footers in basketball. Reid won this season’s Sixth Man of the Year honors. Even with Gobert and Towns both fighting foul trouble on Saturday, Reid came in and scored 14 fourth-quarter points while doing an admirable job defending Jokic. Meanwhile, Jokic had his second straight game with at least seven turnovers, showing that he might be cracking at carrying a heavy burden for Denver while Jamal Murray nurses a calf strain.

Should that sort of mix continue, with Minnesota’s bigs collectively trying to wear Jokic down, the Nuggets’ title defense may not last much longer. If their inconsistent play doesn’t tell the story here, then the fact that they now trail in a playoff series for the first time in two years should. In due time, they may well illustrate why it’s so hard to repeat in the NBA.

Still, there remains hope for Denver.

Jokic is seldom this uncharacteristically sloppy for long stretches. With his and the Nuggets’ backs against the wall, they have usually responded very well during this era of Denver basketball with this core. When push comes to shove, the Nuggets are doing the shoving. It’s more that they haven’t had to answer this kind of adversity in a while.

The 2020 version of the Nuggets came back from consecutive 3-1 series deficits against the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. In 2021, without both an injured Murray and Michael Porter Jr., a severely undermanned Denver squad beat the Portland Trail Blazers after also losing Game 1 of the series at home. Heck, even during last year’s Finals, and even though they were definitively the better team, Denver rebounded from a disappointing Game 2 defeat at home to the Miami Heat to storm back and take both matchups in South Beach before eventually winning its first title in franchise history in an emphatic five games.

The Timberwolves might be different. Even beyond Minnesota’s three-headed Cerberus of bigs, Edwards is a matchup problem that Denver doesn’t have a definitive answer for. In all honesty, most teams might not have an answer for Minnesota’s strengths, which is why it wouldn’t be surprising to see it win this series.

But for now, it’s just one game and one loss. It doesn’t pay to ride the emotional highs and lows of what could be a long series, as some Nuggets veterans professed on Saturday. That is, provided they even things up at 1-1 on Monday.

Denver still has Jokic, perhaps the one player in the league who could really dig deep, go into overdrive, and turn this series into the all-out war most everyone still expects. It’s hindsight in retrospect and might just be a moral victory, but the fact that the Nuggets held a four-point halftime lead and were tied with Minnesota late in the fourth quarter despite another poor Murray shooting effort should be encouraging.

The Nuggets can win this series, but Jokic and Murray have to start playing like Jokic and Murray. Jokic specifically must be the best player on either team, something that happened in each of those previous instances when opponents actually backed the Nuggets up against the wall. Murray, meanwhile, probably can’t leave the top three of the overall hierarchy by the time the dust settles. We have yet to see it this postseason but to advance to their third Western Conference Finals in the last five seasons, the Nuggets’ franchise players will have to bring their A+ game moving forward.

No questions asked.

These Nuggets have a precedent of responding with fury when they take a gut punch. It’s been a while since they took such a vicious body blow at the hands of a terrific opponent, even longer than these playoffs.

Now they have no choice but to respond in kind and deliver.

Spurs land 24-year-old center to help Victor Wembanyama in mock trade

In this mock trade, the San Antonio Spurs would land a 24-year-old center to play next to Victor Wembanyama.

As the San Antonio Spurs get set to enter the 2023-24 season, all eyes will be on Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs selected the 19-year-old Frenchman with the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and he’s one of the most hyped-up prospects in the last 20 years. He has enough talent to lead the team for the next decade-plus.

But for the immediate future, the Spurs’ gameplan should be to surround him with as much talent as possible. It’s been reported that the Spurs plan to play Wembanyama at the power forward position, with Zach Collins manning the center position. In turn, adding center help could be a priority moving forward.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report recently wrote a mock trade that would see them do just that, landing Naz Reid in a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ranking the Top 10 big men for Team USA if Joel Embiid declines invitation to Paris Olympics in 2024

Anthony Davis is the top option but there are some interesting sleepers, too.

After shockingly failing to medal during the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Team USA has lots of questions to answer before the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

One of the reasons why Team USA struggled to even earn a bronze medal was due to a lack of size in the frontcourt. They struggled on the defensive end of the floor and had a massive deficiency when it came to rebounding the ball.

This is a team that will need legitimate big men in order to compete with tough international talent in the post such as Serbia’s Nikola Jokic as well as France’s Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr was asked about what changes may come before the Olympics and he mentioned that the team needed to have very specific intentions when it came to the types of big men they would target for the roster (via The Athletic):

“I think it’s a worthwhile point of discussion, but the discussion has to go to, ‘OK, then who is that?” […] “You can’t just say, we’re going to have size for size’s sake. You have to have players who are going to help you win, and you have to determine who those guys are. It’s not just the size, it’s the way the game is played. […] But I don’t think it’s as simple as saying it’s just size. I think you have to examine who you’re talking about if you go down that path.”

Of course, the first name that comes to mind is Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. He could join the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, who helped lead Team USA to win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta after he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

The six-time All-Star is an international free agent who is eligible to play for Team Cameroon (after they clinched a spot to compete in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament) as well as Team France and Team USA.

Team USA managing director Grant Hill said Embiid “knows our desire” to have him on the team. According to Brian Windhorst, however, it’s too early to assume that the league’s reigning MVP will decide to actually suit up for the Americans at the 2024 Olympics in Paris (via ESPN):

“Team USA has done some recruiting of Joel Embiid, who holds both United States and French citizenship, but the Philadelphia 76ers star has thus far been noncommittal.”

So if Team USA is not able to successfully recruit Embiid, here are the other top options that they could consider:

This Jeopardy! contestant amazingly named her cat NAZ REID after the Timberwolves big man

NAZ REID, the cat, is already a legend.

Minnesota Timberwolves big man Naz Reid probably didn’t expect to hear his name if he was watching Jeopardy! on Thursday night.

Reid is a 23-year-old center who averaged 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season. He isn’t exactly a household name after playing four years in the NBA, but fans of the popular game show learned a bit more about the former LSU star last night.

Anji Nyquist, a contestant from Minnesota, told host Ken Jennings about her interest in the Timberwolves and her basketball-loving cat. It was a very fun fact update about Nyquist, who won the competition on Wednesday and was returning to defend her crown.

Here is what she had to say to Jennings during the telecast:

“I am a big Timberwolves fan. We have season tickets. This season did not go the way we were hoping for but I’m hopeful because we have Anthony Edwards, who is really good, and we have Naz Reid — who I named my cat for.”

Nyquist confirmed that the cat is spelled with all capital letters, NAZ REID.

In case you were curious, here is what NAZ REID (the cat) looks like:

 

She added that NAZ REID watches basketball with her and that she loves to watch the basketball go around the court.

This is just legendary stuff from Nyquist, NAZ REID and Naz Reid.

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Extension before 2023 free agency: Who are the candidates?

Here are six players who could avoid free agency by receiving an extension this week.

As free agency approaches, potential free agents are preparing for their future. Teams and players can begin negotiations on June 30, the final day of the 2022-23 salary cap year. Some players, still extension-eligible till that date, can bypass free agency by signing a new deal now. Naz Reid and the Minnesota Timberwolves have initiated proceedings three-year, $42 million deal that he was eligible to sign all season long.

Some players like Draymond Green and Khris Middleton, who seem like good bets to re-sign with their current teams would make sense as extension candidates. However, they could be looking at securing long-term deals where they get a lower starting salary. They wouldn’t be allowed to extend at a lower starting salary than the player option amounts they declined, but they could in free agency. The new CBA has changed that rule to allow such players with options to extend at lower amounts starting next offseason.

Here are several other players who remain extension-eligible and could come to terms on a deal prior to free agency.

Lakers reportedly have interest in Timberwolves big man Naz Reid

The Lakers may be looking to beef up their frontcourt this offseason.

Much of the attention on the Los Angeles Lakers’ personnel needs this offseason has centered around the guard position. The big questions are whether the team will pony up the dough to keep Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, its starting guards, and whether Russell could be involved in a sign-and-trade.

But Los Angeles could also use more frontcourt depth, especially after it usually went with 6-foot-8 Rui Hachimura and even LeBron James to back up Anthony Davis at the 5 during the playoffs.

To that end, the team is reportedly interested in signing Minnesota Timberwolves big man Naz Reid.

Via Lakers Daily:

“Sources tell Lakers Daily that the Lakers are interested in acquiring Reid, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.”

Reid is 23 years of age. Although he’s only 6-foot-9, he weighs a robust 264 pounds. He has become a key reserve for an upstart Timberwolves squad over the last couple of years, mostly at the center position.

This season, he averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots in 18.4 minutes per game. Although he isn’t a great 3-point shooter, he hit 34.6% of his treys during the regular season.

What to make of Matt McMahon’s tough first year at LSU

Matt McMahon’s first year at LSU is done. Where do the Tigers go from here?

The NCAA Tournament is set to begin soon, and LSU won’t be in it.

That’s different from these last few years. With [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag], aside from the COVID year, LSU fans got used to watching basketball in March.

The Tigers have made the last three NCAA Tournaments.

LSU never made a special run at a Final Four, though there was a Sweet 16 appearance. But after several years of struggles, the tournament appearances were enough to satisfy LSU fans in an ever improving SEC.

There was even an SEC title throw in there too.

Stars from those teams have now found success in the NBA, whether it be [autotag]Naz Reid[/autotag] or [autotag]Cam Thomas[/autotag].

LSU finished dead last in the SEC this year. Wade was let go a year ago after LSU received a notice of allegations and in the wake of it, LSU basketball has tripped, stumbled and fallen.

Several players from Wade’s team transferred out. At one point, LSU was without any scholarship player on the roster. LSU hired [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] from Murray State and he recouped some of the losses. Most notably, he convinced guard [autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag] to return.

McMahon brought a number of his players from a good Murray State team too, along with a couple of blue-chip recruits.

Things didn’t look that bad anymore. The team wasn’t overflowing with talent but it had experienced players who had won at a high level. LSU started 5-0 and moved to 12-1. LSU finished off December with a win over No. 9 ranked Arkansas.

Following the Arkansas win, fans celebrated McMahon’s quick turnaround. The group had gelled fast, and LSU was going to compete for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

In the next game, the Tigers put up a fight on the road at Kentucky. Not a win, but more evidence the program was trending up and worthy of conference-wide attention.

Then it started to crumble. LSU lost by seven on the road to a Texas A&M team that turned out to be pretty good. Still not the end of the world. Then LSU lost again, to a Florida team that frankly, wasn’t that good.

LSU then lost again and again and again. A team that was 12-1 was 12-15 and any hope for postseason play had long disappeared.

You could chalk that 12-1 start up to mostly weak opponents. But Arkansas is No. 19 in KenPom, and the Tigers beat a Wake Forest team that won 19 games.

LSU’s lone loss in that stretch was by two points to a Kansas State team that’s 23-9. It really doesn’t make sense. But that’s how Year 1s are sometimes. This was a team with a new coach at a new place that’s never played together before.

This season is now in the rearview mirror. I don’t want to get caught up on diagnosing every issue.

Where does LSU go from here?

There’s sure to be plenty of turnover again. [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], LSU’s best player, will be gone. He was responsible for so much of LSU’s production this year.

Replacing him in a normal situation will be tough. Replacing him in a rebuild, even tougher.

McMahon was hired as a developmental guy. [autotag]Scott Woodward[/autotag] didn’t turn to the proven Power Five winner like he did with football and baseball. With McMahon, Woodward’s playing the long game and the contract McMahon received reflects that.

McMahon signed three four-stars last cycle: [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag], [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] and [autotag]Shawn Phillips[/autotag]. That’s LSU’s future core. It’s pivotal that McMahon holds on to them.

If they leave, that’s when I’d start questioning if McMahon is right for this rebuild.

The pieces for improvement are here. You just have to believe McMahon is a guy capable of developing at LSU like he did at Murray State.

You don’t need elite recruiting classes to win in college basketball. Teams have made runs strictly on developing players.

McMahon added a slew of transfers last year and getting their veteran presence back would be nice, but LSU needs to mine talent in the portal, especially at the guard position.

LSU has a couple of top 200 recruits on their way in. [autotag]Corey Chest[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike Williams[/autotag]. Based on how McMahon treated the freshmen this year, don’t expect a ton from them next year.

It’s too early to make big declarations on what the roster could look like. This is still a program in flux, and in this era, anything can happen.

This offseason, even more so than last, is critically important for McMahon and staff. Last year was excusable. Finishing last in the SEC again next year won’t be.

This is the new SEC. It doesn’t matter if you’re a football school. Athletic departments with money are expected to be relevant in basketball.

Fans want to see this program competing for conference titles once again.

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