The Philadelphia 76ers have quite a few free agents in the upcoming free agency, from long-time Sixers like Shake Milton to important playoff rotation pieces like Georges Niang. Ninety percent of the Sixers’ free agency talks are centered around the rumors about James Harden returning to the Houston Rockets. With that, however, there is a free agent that isn’t getting a lot of attention for Philadelphia, who played in 69 games as a key backup to superstar Joel Embiid.
Paul Reed came to Philadelphia as the 58th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft from DePaul. Since then, he has given the 76ers productive minutes, especially last season. He has also shown consistent improvement every single season. Reed appeared in 69 games last season, a career-high, in order to set career-highs in nearly every other statistical category. A career-high in minutes per game (10.9), field goal percentage (59.3%), offensive and defensive rebounds per game (1.6 and 2.2), and points per game (4.2) were, on some level, to be expected after his role grew, but are still impressive nonetheless. Paul Reed is also only 23 years old and will continue to improve with more playing time.
The 76ers are looking at a free agency that could shake up their team heavily, and while most of that attention has been centered on what’s going to happen with star point guard James Harden, the Sixers’ second most important free agent is Paul Reed. He has been the perfect backup center for Joel Embiid. Reed is a high-energy backup big with a mix of high-efficiency offense and terrific defensive instincts. He has also shown flashes of a serviceable mid-range game.
Paul Reed is straight out of the mud and deserves a full season as the backup center. Last season, Reed had to split the backup center duty with Montrezl Harrell. Next season Trez is most likely still on the Sixers, but Reed has fully separated himself as the rightful backup. On top of that, thanks to his restricted free agency, the Sixers will have the right to match any deal Reed is offered. It would be a mistake for Philadelphia not to resign Paul Reed as soon as possible.
