Naz Reid got paid this summer. That's good, of course, and I am always a proponent of players getting their bags. Reid's deal — 5-year, $125 million — was a fair one for the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year, and a vote of confidence that he will continue to play at a high level (or even higher level) as he enters his late 20s.
But that vote of confidence also comes with an added level of pressure; not pressure to be a different player than he was before, but pressure to consistently be the most productive version of the energy-bringing, 3-point making, hellacious defense-playing big man he has been in previous years.