Lately, Paul Reed has been back in the City of Brotherly Love working on his game. For a moment, it seemed the Philadelphia 76ers’ former second-round pick might find a new home in free agency as he garnered interest from the Utah Jazz.
Applying pressure on the Sixers, the Jazz offered Reed a three-year deal in the ballpark of $23 million with key factors that helped Reed see guaranteed money early. Although the Sixers waited a while before matching the offer sheet, their buzzer-beater decision was to bring Reed back for the next three seasons.
Last week, Reed expressed his excitement about returning to the 76ers, as that’s been a path he was interested in all along. While he was willing to make a smart business decision and play for the Jazz, the fourth-year center looks forward to continuing to build on the progress he’s made over his first three seasons in the NBA with the team that drafted him.
This year, Reed will play for a different head coach for the first time in his NBA career. With former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse taking over for the fired Doc Rivers, Reed anticipates a tweaked role, which would allow him to get some more run at power forward.
Considering Reed isn’t the prototypical NBA big man and offers versatility in his offensive game, many believe that Reed could benefit from a position change. And his recent run in the Brotherly Love Pro-AM summer league has fans excited as they saw different parts of Reed’s game improve in a highlight clip.
“My barber told me to pull up and get some buckets, so I was like, ‘Aight,’” Reed said during halftime on Tuesday night. “It’s good to come out here and get some good run and get some good competition.”
Since entering the NBA, Reed has prided himself on being able to do a little bit of everything. However, Philly’s previous coaching staff wanted to keep him focused on improving in his role as a backup center, being a tenacious rebounder.
This summer, it seems Reed’s looking to take the next step as he displayed more than just rebounding and rolling to the rim in his Brotherly Love debut. The NBA veteran also looked to possess more shiftiness in his movement, a solid vision for his passing and even had multiple successful three-point attempts, with a couple of them off the dribble.
It will be interesting to see how Reed’s recent improvements translate at the pro level this season.
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