Reid edges Monk in closest-ever NBA 6th Man vote

Minnesota forward Naz Reid was named the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year on Wednesday night, becoming the first Timberwolves player to win the award.

Reid, 24, averaged career highs of 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds to help Minnesota finish with the second-best record in franchise history (56-26) and clinch the third seed in the Western Conference.

He also became the third undrafted player to win the award, along with John Starks (1997) and Darrell Armstrong (1999).

“Blessed to be in this situation,” Reid, one of six players to win the award before the age of 25, said in an interview on TNT.

“It’s special,” Reid said of his relationship with the fans in Minnesota, where he has spent his whole career thus far. “It’s one of a kind, something that you obviously dream of, especially at the highest level. They’ve seen me work since Day 1. … I think just being with me, that’s super special.”

Reid just edged out Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk, who finished second. Reid and Monk had the same number of second-place (39) and third-place (10) votes, with the 10-point difference (352 to 342) coming down to Reid getting 45 first-place votes, compared to 43 for Monk.

According to NBA Communications, the 10-point difference between Reid and Monk was the smallest margin in NBA Sixth Man of the Year balloting under the current voting format, which began with the 2002-03 season.

The other finalist, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis, was a distant third with five first-place votes and 82 total points. LA Clippers guard Norman Powell (two first-place votes) finished fourth, while Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanović received five first-place votes to finish fifth and round out the players to receive at least one first-place vote.

Monk, 26, averaged 15.4 points and 5.1 assists — both career highs — this season, playing alongside college teammate De’Aaron Fox and helping power Sacramento to 46 wins and its second consecutive winning season — the ninth overall for the Kings since moving to Sacramento from Kansas City in 1985.

Portis, 29, averaged 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds while playing in all 82 games for the Bucks. It is the third time in four years Portis has received votes for Sixth Man of the Year, after finishing third last year behind then-Boston Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon and then-New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey on Tuesday was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player, the first of the league’s season-long awards to be handed out over the next couple weeks.

The league’s Clutch Player of the Year award will be handed out Thursday and Coach of the Year on Sunday, before the remaining individual awards — Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year — are unveiled in the coming weeks, along with the All-NBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams.