N.J. native, Timberwolves center Naz Reid has two goals: ‘Win, win, win’ and giving back to kids of Asbury Park

NEW YORK -- Hours before his Minnesota Timberwolves were set to take on the Knicks in a preseason game at Madison Square Garden Saturday night, Naz Reid said his mind was at ease after he agreed on a three-year, $42-million contract back in June.

“[My goal] is just to be the best version of myself. I’m not really too worried about [the] contract situation, things like that, that weight’s kind of off my shoulders,” Reid told NJ Advance Media at shootaround at the Garden.

“Now the goal is to win, win, win as much as possible. Fifty games plus. That’s the goal.”

The 6-foot-9 former Roselle Catholic High School star then proceeded to go out and score 22 points off the bench while making 5-of-8 3-pointers in a 121-112 win over the Knicks. The Wolves, who also feature fellow New Jersey natives Karl-Anthony Towns and Kyle Anderson, are now 3-0 in the preseason.

Off the court, Reid, 24, is doing good work, too.

In August, he held his first Naz Reid Basketball Camp to benefit 55 kids from Asbury Park and Neptune City.

“I had a camp for a couple youth kids, something I’m probably going to do continuously for the next couple of years, moving forward,” Reid said. “Just to show them that anything is possible. I came from the same community that they came from, so I want them to know that anything is possible. They are able to make it from any position that they’re in and just keep going.”

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Reid expected more than a dozen family and friends at the game, including one youth who attended his camp.

“I don’t know if he’s going to be able to make it because some things happened with his family,” he said.

Reid ran the camp with former Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, who he called “one of my favorite coaches.” Boff is building a new program at College Achieve Public Charter School in Neptune City after leading Roselle Catholic to four New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles.

“Naz has always been passionate about giving back to the kids from where he grew up,” Boff said. “It was one of the first things he talked about after making the NBA.

“I was thrilled to be able to help him bring the camp to life for the kids in the Asbury Park/Neptune area. Naz was amazing at the camp, working with the kids in stations, playing every kid in 1-on-1 and signing an autograph. He took a picture with every kid individually.

“Naz made sure the camp was free and also donated lunch for every camper each day, as well as backpacks and school supplies for each kid. It was a truly amazing experience for these kids and to host it at my new school College Achieve made it special for me. I’m really excited to continue to help Naz continue to build the camp to help impact more kids.”

Before his next camp, Reid’s main focus is helping the Timberwolves have a strong season alongside Towns, big man Rudy Gobert and star guard Anthony Edwards.

Minnesota advanced out of the Play-In Tournament last year but was ousted in the first round by Nikola Jokic and the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets, who are coached by former Seton Hall Prep point guard Michael Malone.

Reid believes big things are possible for the Wolves even though they are playing in a loaded Western Conference that features the Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and a host of other potent teams.

“We got the capabilities,” he said. “It’s a new year, new start, so I feel like that’s something that we can accomplish.”