Hornets Coach Charles Lee Raves About Newcomer Naz Reid: 'Joy to Work With'

Before the Charlotte Hornets' first preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday (10/6), head coach Charles Lee raved about new big man Naz Reid. 

The Hornets acquired Reid from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the LaMelo Ball trade. 

"He's a joy to work with and to have on our team," Lee said about Reid. "The versatility of Naz has been displayed in so many different ways, defensively and offensively. The human being, he's phenomenal. I had a couple dinners with him and he'll get talking to you and telling stories and you can just tell he loves the game.

"He loves his teammates. He's really excited to get here. With any transition, it takes some time to get yourself acclimated, but he's fit in perfectly and our group has done a great job of bringing him along."

The Hornets lost to the Nets by a final score of 124-90. Reid played 13 minutes in his Charlotte debut. He finished with 13 points and four rebounds while shooting 3-of-9 from the field, 1-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

Reid won the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year award with the Timberwolves. He enters this season with regular-season averages of 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game and playoff averages of 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. 

For Minnesota last season, Reid averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field, 36.2% from beyond the arc and 73.2% from the free-throw line. He recorded six double-doubles. 

Reid will make $23,275,862 this season. Multiple teams tried to acquire him from the Hornets, but Charlotte is keeping the talented power forward. 

The Hornets are expected to start Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté this season. That's a strong starting five on paper. 

While Reid is a great addition, Charlotte's success is dependent on Miller and Knueppel, the new franchise players in Charlotte with Ball and Miles Bridges gone. Both youngsters have a lot of untapped potential.

Miller appeared in 65 games for the Hornets last season, his third year in the NBA. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from beyond the arc and 89.2% from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, even though Knueppel didn't win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award, he still had a special season for the Hornets. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in 3-pointers.

Miller enters this season with career averages of 19.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was the second overall pick in the 2023 draft.

It will be intriguing to see if Charlotte can snap its playoff drought in Year 1 of the post-Ball-Bridges era. 

Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against Brooklyn. The home opener is against the Atlanta Hawks.