The Brooklyn Nets have a number of ways of getting better during the 2025 NBA offseason as they have plenty of draft capital and the most salary cap space in the league. It’s still too early to see how Brooklyn will use its cap space this summer, but due to their financial position, they may be able to attract free-agents that are looking for a big payday.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Naz Reid heads into this offseason as one of the better players that could be available if he chooses to decline his $15 million player option for the 2025-26 season. Reid is coming off the best season of his six-year career and while going back to Minnesota would be a good move for him, he could be looking for more than just the best winning situation.
“Yes, 100 percent. 100 percent. But sometimes, if you want to be in a winning position, sometimes you might have to sacrifice. I definitely view myself as a starter,” Reid said after Wednesday’s season-ending 124-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Games 5 in the Western Conference Finals. Reid has spent his entire career in Minnesota coming off the bench, but it sounds like he could be looking for more playing time next season.
How this relates to the Nets is that Brooklyn is still in a position where the team is looking for as many talented players as possible, especially in the early stages of their full-scale rebuild. While Reid could be heading back to the Timberwolves, either by opting into his player option or signing an extension, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes that Brooklyn is the only team that can offer Reid more than $14.1 million.
More to the point, Reid would have the chance to start alongside center Nic Claxton, assuming that the Nets do not trade Claxton this offseason. While Reid’s primary position has been center for the Timberwolves, he has seen his role to shift to that of a second center or a bigger power forward on the floor over the past two seasons and he has shot at least 37.9% from three-point land.
As Marks pointed out, it’s unlikely that Minnesota would let someone like Reid walk, even if he declines his player option with the intention of going somewhere else. Even if the Timberwolves and Reid were willing to part ways, Brooklyn would probably have to engage in a sign-and-trade scenario and that situation would depend on whether the juice is worth the squeeze for a rebuilding Nets team.
