ESPN News Services1:34 PM ET1 Minute Read
Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid will have surgery on his broken left wrist and will be sidelined for six weeks, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
It’s a deep blow to the team during the regular season’s stretch run.
An MRI on Thursday revealed a left scaphoid fracture — between the hand and forearm on the thumb side of the wrist — for Reid. He suffered the injury trying to brace himself as he fell onto the court after being fouled in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 107-100 road loss to the Phoenix Suns.
The fourth-year player has led the team as the top scorer in six games this season, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game with 53.7% shooting from the floor – all career bests.
Reid, 23, has gone from the bench to a valuable addition to big men Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns with his two-way skills. He proved particularly sustainable when Towns missed 52 games with a badly strained right calf muscle.
Five games remaining in the regular season, the Timberwolves (39-38) go into Friday’s home game against the Los Angeles Lakers in eighth place in the Western Conference. They’re a game away from 6th place, which would avoid the play-in tournament, but two games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, who are currently out of the playoff race.
Reid will be a free agent this summer.
Portal and The Associated Press contributed to this report.