After back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference finals the past two seasons, expectations for the Minnesota Timberwolves were sky high to begin the year. Halfway through the year, they have exceeded these expectations as they are only two wins away from being a top-two seed in the West at this current moment. While all the fan and media attention will go to All-NBA shooting guard Anthony Edwards, an unsung hero has arisen this season with former six-man of the year Naz Reid playing dominantly as of late.
“At some point, you just have to be as aggressive as possible. You have to focus on different ways to score, different angles to score, and be as efficient as possible to be able to get to the basket. I feel that I just need to be as aggressive on both defense and offense” Naz Reid said.
Reid has emerged as a very consistent player recently, contributing to their overall success. He had his season high recently on December 29, 2025, with 33 points against the Chicago Bulls. He also had another 29 points in their most recent game vs. the Heat on Jan 4. None of this happens, however, without Anthony Edwards and his coaches focused on incorporating the entire team, not just himself.
“It comes with being a scorer. Once I start hitting shots, most teams know that once I make one shot, I’m making a lot. So once I start making shots and they start trapping me, I get my teammates involved, or they might start the game off trapping me. And when they do that, I just get off the ball, and then they loosen the covers, and I go be aggressive,” Anthony Edwards said.
The Timberwolves have also been a great team all around, with center Rudy Gobert being a force on defense, averaging 1.7 blocks and 11.1 rebounds a game, while showing flashes on offense as a capable scorer who can take defenders off the dribble instead of his shot diet being just dunks and putbacks.
Gobert’s front-court partner, Julius Randle, has rediscovered his playmaking ability, leading the team in assists per game with six . Thanks to these players, the Timberwolves have reached much success this year with a 23-13 record.
(Kian Moyer)
Contributing to this well-rounded team includes their strong bench. The Timberwolves have maintained their success by developing and utilizing their strong bench. Developing younger players like Rob Dillingham and Bones Hyland. These players have shown intense flashes of potential and strong scoring ability and have been developing and gaining experience from great players.
“I just focus on being a great teammate and a great team player while also bringing my scoring ability and pace to the team, trying to do whatever I can do for the team. All around the attributes [that I’m trying to improve] in my game are talking, pace and being scrappy on defense more. On this team I am just trying to be like a sponge to all of my teammates and the coaching staff that believe in me. This is definitely a program that believes in my abilities. As you see, my minutes have been going up, I am playing in the clutch more, so it’s definitely a tribute to my work and the coaching staff,” Bones Hyland said.
