Naz Reid. The name and player became a fan-favorite in Minnesota, but that didn't mean he wasn't on the trading block for President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly.
ESPN's Shams Charania is reporting that the Timberwolves are trading Reid to the Charlotte Hornets for star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green.
Along with Reid, the Hornets will pick up a number of Wolves draft picks: a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033).
The deals cannot be finalized until July 6, when the league moratorium on such moves is lifted.
Reid signed with the Timberwolves after going undrafted in 2019. He was the 2024 NBA 6th Man of the Year, and a key cog for the Timberwolves off the bench. He averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season.
The trade of Reid, following the trade of starter Julius Randle, leaves the team with a hole on the frontline, but gives them a star-studded backcourt, with Ball joining Wolves star Anthony Edwards. Both were 2020 draft picks, with Edwards going first and Ball third.
Ball averaged 20 points per game, and 7 assists per game for the Hornets last season, and he gives the Wolves something they have sorely lacked the last couple of seasons, a dynamic point guard.
There's some risk with Ball, however. He's a playmaker, and dynamic guard who will take the pressure off of Edwards to handle point guard duties. But he does have some some injury history to worry about. An All-Star in 2022, Ball struggled with ankle and foot injuries during his career. He was mostly healthy last season, but only played in 47 games in 2024-25, and 22 games in 2023-24.
The 24-year-old Ball had three years left on a franchise-record five-year, $203.9 million designated rookie contract.
Green is another guard, from Australia, and played 15 minutes a game off the bench for Charlotte, averaging just 4 points per game, but is a 40% shooter from three.
The Wolves also re-signed last year's trade target, Ayo Dosunmu, after trading Randle giving the Wolves a ton of depth at the guard position.
That move, and adding Ball, does push the team's payroll into a luxury tax situation for the third straight year, showing that new owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are willing to spend money to make the team more competitive after what was a slightly disappointing season. The Wolves were coming off back-to-back Western Conference Finals, but fell in the second round to San Antonio this year.
The moves of Randle and Reid, and replacing those deals with Dosunmu and Ball, basically even out the Wolves payroll from last year.
The West is loaded with good, young teams led by the Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it was expected Connelly and the Wolves would tweak the roster around Edwards to try and get back into a position to compete for a championship.
All of this is happening as the NBA Draft took place this week. As part of the Randle trade, the Wolves moved back from the 28th pick in the first round, to the 33rd pick in the second round. They took Duke guard Isaiah EvansDuke guard Isaiah Evans, a sophomore, with the pick.
Evans is a quality player for a second round pick. He worked as an off-the-ball floor spacer with the ability to heat up from outside in a hurry while shooting 38% from behind the arc through two seasons. And he was considered a possible first-round prospect even before he elevated his game as a full-time starter in his sophomore season.
