76ers' Doc Rivers Addresses State of Minutes Behind Joel Embiid

Doc Rivers discusses the backup center position as he's favored Montrezl Harrell over Paul Reed lately.

The Philadelphia 76ers don’t have a consistent backup center. After the Sixers signed Montrezl Harrell in the offseason, putting him in competition with the team’s former second-round pick Paul Reed, many expected the Sixers to pick one to roll with behind Joel Embiid after the preseason.

Doc Rivers made it clear that both guys will have chances to garner playing time in the regular season. So far, that’s the approach the Sixers have taken. As both players have had their success and struggles through the first 28 games of the season, Embiid’s backup has switched often.

At the start of the year, Harrell picked up more playing time. Eventually, Rivers favored Reed. However, after a 16-minute shift against the Houston Rockets a couple of weeks ago, Reed had one of his toughest showings.

Spending three minutes on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 9, Reed picked up three fouls in the first half. He was a minus-12 for the matchup and didn’t see the court beyond the second quarter. From that point on, Reed has only played garbage time minutes, while Harrell has averaged 12 minutes on the court over the last three games.

Before the Sixers hosted the Golden State Warriors last Friday, Doc Rivers addressed the current state of the backup center position. Confirming that Harrell’s currently Embiid’s backup as a result of Reed’s struggles, Rivers revealed that Harrell’s currently in the primary rotation.

“Just [Montrezl]’s play,” said Rivers when asked about his recent decision. “You know, I thought Paul was struggling. I think that was clear. And Trezl had been struggling before that.”

While Rivers notes that Harrell is the go-to guy at the moment behind Embiid, he made it clear that Reed will certainly have opportunities to bounce back as the season progresses.

“I’d love it at some point, and it’ll happen, where they’re both playing great,” Rivers added. “That’ll be good. That will be a good thing because maybe you can use them together or one guy against one team and one guy against another team. That hasn’t happened yet. So, right now, it’s Trezl.”

Against Golden State last Friday, Harrell was a plus-five on the court for the 11 minutes he checked in. On Monday, the Sixers will begin their slate of games with a matchup against the Toronto Raptors. Based on Rivers’ recent comments, Harrell will likely get the nod to play over Reed for the night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.