Naz Reid credits shared mindset for Wolves' success, promises more to come

Mindset and buy-in have been key to the Timberwolves success this season. 

Naz Reid was one of a handful of Minnesota players featured during ESPN's "Timberwolves: All Access on Friday and the Sixth Man of the Year candidate filled the nation in on why he thinks the Timberwolves are launched to the top spot in the Western Conference. 

"It's been amazing," Reid said. "Everybody is excited to be here. The effort, the will, the intensity is there. It's just something it hasn't been in a long time and I've been here five years. It's definitely a testament to the work that we've been putting in and the changes we've made to get to this point."

Minnesota comes out of the All-Star break with a 39-16 record, sitting a game up on the Thunder for first place in the Western Conference. With just 27 games left in the season, this Wolves squad is creeping closer to doing something only one other Minnesota team has done before: finish with the best record in the West.

"The ultimate goal is to win," Reid said. "Everybody has come in with the mindset that it can be done. Everybody plays a huge role, one through 15, all coaches. It's fun, it's fun to be out there and compete with these guys. Obviously being in the position that we're in with the No. 1 spot in the playoffs, we want that to continue going forward."

Minnesota squeaked into the playoffs last year, having to go through two rounds of the play-in tournament after finishing eighth in the West with a 42-40 record. Reid identifies the uptick in defense as the reason why a largely similar unit has had so much success this season as opposed to last season.

"Our identity is defense," Reid explained. "Jaden (McDaniels) and Rudy (Gobert) are the head of the horse. We're following their suit. Rudy might be Defensive Player of the Year in my opinion. I think that's just where it starts. But yeah our identity is our defense."

The past two seasons the Wolves have made it to the first round of the NBA playoffs but were bounced by the Denver Nuggets in 2023 and the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022. A lack of playoff success has led many national pundits to question if this Wolves squad can translate its regular season success to the postseason, even if they do finish with the top seed in the West.

"I just think we all have the same mindset, we all have one goal." said Reid when asked why this season will be different. "We don't have any outside agendas. Everybody has put their pride aside and I think everybody has the same mindset to win. We're all going to put in the effort, we're all going to put in the time. We just got to keep showing it each and every night."

Averaging the most minutes of his career (22.5), Reid is also averaging a career-high in points (12.2) while shooting 48% from the field and a career-high 41% from 3-point range. He's come a long way in five years and at 24 years old his ceiling is very high. 

Coming out of LSU in 2019, Reid was passed over in the draft before he signed a two-way deal as an undrafted free agent. He made his NBA debut in December of 2019 and hasn't looked back since, signing a three-year, $42 million deal with the Wolves in June.

Wolves fans have seen Reid develop into one of the league's best role players.

"I've been here for five years so they've gotten the chance to see me grow from a pup to the guy I am now," Reid said of Minnesota fans. "It's definitely been huge. It's definitely been fun to be around these fans. Every time I check into a game there's so much love that's been shown. I appreciate it so much. I think going out there and putting in the hard work that I've put in, they saw it since Day 1. So, I think they appreciate it. They want more and I can give them more over the next couple years."