Naz Reid has 19 games left to make a statement to the NBA
With roughly a month left in the season, Naz Reid stays the favourite to carry residence his second Sixth Man of the Year trophy in three years. It is not a lock by any means, as guys like Keldon Johnson and Jaime Jaquez Jr are additionally having nice seasons, with Johnson being the largest risk to steal the award.
(*19*)As such Reid’s play throughout the stretch run of the season might be important.
Naz’s case over Keldon Johnson
Both Naz and Johnson are having equally productive seasons, and each are main contributors for Western Conference contenders. However, Reid has the ability to take over games in a method that in all probability is not in Johnson’s wheelhouse.
That’s not a shot at Johnson; he’s been huge for the Spurs. But Reid has put the Timberwolves on his again and received them a few games this season, which speaks volumes, particularly for somebody off the bench.
Some of Reid’s most notable performances this season are 33 factors and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes versus the Bulls, 29 factors and 4 rebounds versus the Heat, and 28 factors and 5 rebounds versus the Wizards. The notable stat is that each one of those games have been received by the Timberwolves.
Reid has been on a mini-skid these days
The solely factor that might put Reid’s award in jeopardy is his current decline in scoring. He’s averaging 14 factors on the season. Unfortunately, in February, his scoring was down to 11.1 factors per recreation on 31.8 p.c taking pictures from distance.
March hasn’t been any higher, though the month has simply began, so there’s loads of time to flip it round. In the three games this month, he is averaging 8.7 factors on a roughly 35.5 p.c from the subject. Some of that is due to the Wolves’ bolstered bench, making it much less seemingly for Reid to have to carry the bench like he had to earlier than the commerce deadline.
These numbers could not look promising, however I’m fairly assured he’ll get himself out of this droop quickly. He’s too gifted a participant to proceed taking pictures this badly, and with the additions of Ayo Dosunmu and Kyle Anderson, that provides extra gameplay to unencumber Naz for appears to be like both from three or in the publish.
There is not a lot time left in the season, however the Wolves are solely hitting their stride increasingly as a staff, so with a strong statistical month from Reid and the Wolves persevering with to stack wins, he could also be taking a look at his second piece of {hardware} fairly quickly.
