Paul Reed Remains Ready to do ‘Dirty Work’ for 76ers

After earning some more playing time against the Pacers, Paul Reed knows what he has to do to stay in the rotation.

The backup center position was all the talk in the offseason for the Philadelphia 76ers. With Paul Reed, Charles Bassey, and Montrezl Harrell battling it out in the offseason for minutes behind Joel Embiid, many were curious as to who would win over the spot as the five-time All-Star’s backup.

Bassey was the odd man out, as he was cut following the preseason. While it seemed Harrell won Doc Rivers over as he picked up 11 minutes of playing time over Reed in the season opener, there’s been a rotation going on behind Embiid, which has allowed Reed to earn rotational minutes early on.

After sitting out for the opener, Reed checked into last Thursday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks for a little under five minutes. While he registered another DNP against San Antonio on Saturday, Reed picked up nearly nine minutes of playing time against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

“I didn’t know [I was going to play],” Reed said after the game. “I didn’t know. My mindset was just, let me go, come and be a great teammate, and try to cheer my guys on as much as I can. And when my name gets called, you know I’m ready. I’ve been working.”

Work ethic has never been a concern for Reed, who has established himself as one of the hardest workers on the Sixers since he was drafted in 2020. The third-year center just needs to show that what he does on the practice court can consistently translate into the game.

“I know what (Doc Rivers) wants from me,” Reed continued. “He wants me to go out there and play defense, get rebounds, set good screens, run the floor hard, do all the dirty work, and just go out there and be effective.” 

Reed’s season debut last week was short-lived. In less than five minutes of action, he collected one rebound and picked up a foul. After the game, Rivers mentioned he wasn’t thrilled with any of the backup center minutes between Reed and Harrell, which led to the head coach opting to use PJ Tucker as a small-ball five instead.

On Monday, the bench play that included Reed and Harrell left Rivers feeling more optimistic moving forward. While consistency is critical, the 76ers overall felt their second unit is getting back on track after a slow start to the year. And Reed was delighted to be a part of that.

“It felt good, man,” said the third-year center. “It felt good. I feel like I still didn’t catch a good rhythm out there, but I was able to block some shots and get some steals.”

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