2023 NBA Free Agency- Philadelphia 76ers match Paul Reed's three-year, $23 million offer from the Utah Jazz

Paul Reed is going back to the Philadelphia 76ers after the team matched the three-year, $23 million offer from the Utah Jazz.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news:

“The 76ers are matching Paul Reed’s three-year, $23M offer sheet with the Jazz, sources tell ESPN. Per sheet’s terms, Sixers must guarantee last two years of Reed’s deal if they win the opening round of playoffs this season.”

The Philadelphia 76ers still have Montrezl Harrell and added Mo Bamba as backup centers to reigning MVP Joel Embiid. Both are short-term options for the Sixers as they are only on one-year deals.

Paul Reed was the 58th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He has played all three years of his career in the league with the Sixers. He will be remaining with the team for at least three more years, particularly if they win a first-round playoff series.

Reed played 69 games last season, starting in two of them. He averaged 4.2 points on 59.3% shooting and added 3.8 rebounds.

Former coach Doc Rivers continued to use him in the playoffs as Embiid’s primary reliever. Reed played 11 postseason games, starting in two of them. He averaged 4.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG.

Over his last two seasons, he has shown limited moves on offense, relying on lobs and putback layups to score. His defense has been quite solid in the paint but has been exposed when matched up with perimeter players on switches.

The Utah Jazz badly needed center depth behind Walker Kessler, who had an exceptional rookie season. After Kessler, the Jazz only have Kelly Olynyk to man the paint. Olynyk is more of a stretch four, who has been mostly outmatched by some of the NBA’s bigger inside operators.

Paul Reed would have been a great pickup for the Jazz. Utah will now have to look elsewhere to bolster their center depth.

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Paul Reed and Montrezl Harrell will likely battle for the primary backup center role

Last season, Montrezl Harrell played 57 games for the Philadelphia 76ers, starting in seven of them. In some of those Joel Embiid-less games, he was Doc Rivers’ first choice to play with the first five.

Harrell averaged 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds. Rivers, however, preferred Reed over him once the playoffs started.

The former NBA Sixth Man of the Year winner played only two games in the postseason and averaged just 3.5 minutes per contest. Reed had 11 playoff games and had more minutes on the floor when called to action.

The Philadelphia 76ers, however, replaced Rivers with Nick Nurse, the former Toronto Raptors coach. Nurse will give both Reed and Harrell the chance to battle for the primary backup center role.

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