With rumors that Naz Reid's tenure with the Charlotte Hornets could be short-lived, could he be a trade target for the Toronto Raptors? I think so.
A few reports have hinted that the Hornets are considering moving Reid after acquiring him only a few months ago during the offseason. The most recent report comes from ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel, who cited a conversation with a Western Conference front-office member: “Trading Reid creates an avenue to add more first-round picks to move around the draft as this team sees fit over the next few years, and it would also open up minutes for the Hornets to really lean into Hannes Steinbach and Ryan Kalkbrenner. If they don't move him now, Reid's value will only decrease, and they'll be married to his contract.”
For a Raptors team in need of frontcourt depth, bench scoring, and floor spacing, Reid could check several boxes in one player while also getting to play in an environment focused on contending in the present as opposed to the future. Before we continue, Finn Kuehl of No Ceilings, FanSided, the Bench Mob blog, and Two-Way Talents deserves some credit, as he sent me a DM after the Reid rumors started, asking if I thought he fit with Toronto. So shoutout to Finn for sparking this article idea.
Naz Reid with the Raptors could be a perfect marriage
Coming into the season, many people viewed Reid as a potential Most Improved Player candidate. Going from a sixth-man role in Minnesota to a starting role with Charlotte, his usage was expected to be at an all-time high. While his usage rate jumped from 22.1 last season to 28.5 this season, his production hasn’t improved the way many people in NBA circles expected. He is averaging a career-high 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Everything else is pretty rough. Reid’s turnovers are at an all-time high, his field goal percentage is at a career low, and his three-point percentage is the lowest it’s been since 2022-23.
How much of this is Reid’s fault? Not a lot of it. Sure, it would’ve been nice to see Reid step into a more on-ball role and be a real point-forward type that could do a bunch of awesome stuff as a primary creator, but that clearly just isn’t who he is. Without LaMelo Ball, the Hornets are trying a playmaking-by-committee approach, and them forcing the ball into Reid’s hands as a primary creator is the leading cause of his turnover problems and poor shooting.
With the Timberwolves, Reid was always an off-ball scorer who thrived on catching and shooting or catching and taking a few dribbles to the rim. So it makes sense that asking him to create for others hasn’t translated the way it could theoretically, given his ball-handling and feel for the game.
So why would Toronto want him? The answer is pretty simple: because they could put him back in a role where he could thrive as a sixth man. The Raptors rank 19th in bench scoring this season, as their second unit is really missing a pure bucket-getter who can fill up the stat sheet when the stars are on the bench.
The second reason: Toronto needs more spacing as they rank in the bottom five in three-point percentage this season, and Reid, a career 37 percent three-point shooter, could boost that figure in a big way.
The last reason is that he could be an awesome third big man alongside Jakob Poeltl and Collin Murray-Boyles, with Reid bringing a unique skill set they don’t currently have in the frontcourt.
So what would Toronto hypothetically have to give up? When you look at where Charlotte is, as a team that decided to take a step back, their priority is likely flexibility, young talent, and draft capital. With RJ Barrett’s future in question, why not flip his expiring contract and one first-round pick, or even two, for Naz Reid, who’d be under contract until the 2030 offseason? Barrett continues to be a weird fit with the rest of this Raptors roster and swapping him for Reid could really balance this roster out.
For Charlotte, Barrett’s expiring salary would help them stay flexible while adding more draft capital to their retool focused on Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel.
A rotation built around Quickley, Walter, Leonard, Barnes, and Poeltl, with Reid, Murray-Boyles, Shead, and Battle providing depth, feels much more balanced than Toronto's current roster construction. Yes, there are concerns about Reid defensively, but being able to have his minutes staggered in lineups with Barnes, CMB, Leonard, or even Poeltl could help mitigate his shortcomings as a backup center type.
I’m not saying I would immediately pull the trigger on surrendering Barrett and picks for Reid, but the idea is extremely intriguing. Not only does it benefit the second unit in a massive way, but the added lineup versatility his off-the-ball scoring and shooting could bring definitely makes the hair on my arms stick up.
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