Minnesota Timberwolves’
center/forward Naz Reid took home the 2023-2024 Kia NBA Sixth Man
of the Year, the league announced Wednesday night.
Reid, 24, won the award by the
closest of margins over the Sacramento Kings’ Malik Monk. Reid
finished with a total of 352 points with 45 1st place votes
(equivalent to five points), 39 2nd place votes (three points), and
10 3rd place votes (one point). Monk had 43 1st place votes and had
the same 2nd and 3rd place votes, making up 342 total points and
just 10 points shy of Reid.
Reid becomes the 1st Timberwolf
ever to win the award and the third undrafted player in history,
joining John Starks in 1996 and Darrell Armstrong in 1998.
Reid averaged 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists for the
56-26 Minnesota, which finished third overall in the
West.
The 6-foot-10 big guy who moves
like a guard and has guard-like skills has set career highs in points and rebounds per game
this season. Reid also made
169 total three-pointers in the season exceeding his total from the previous two
seasons combined (132), shooting a career-high 41.4% from
three-point range.
During a 13-game stretch this
season when the Timberwolves went 10-3 from March 16-April 10, Reid
started 12 of the 13 games for an injured Karl-Anthony Towns,
averaging 17.1 points on 45.4% shooting, including 41.4% from deep,
7.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. His 17.1 points per game
during that stretch were the second-most PPG for the Wolves
(Anthony Edwards, 25.4 ppg).
