PHILADELPHIA — Seldom has an athlete accomplished so little yet so completely captured the heart of the Philadelphia sports fan.
Not all Sixers fans, to be sure. Just the unsophisticated ones.
So many Sixers fans love undersized center Paul Reed because he hustles and he boards and he smiles and he’s humble.
The basketball part? Well, let’s just say Reed’s charisma is far deeper than his game. So, why do it?
After failing to advance past the second round of the NBA playoffs for the 22nd consecutive season largely thanks to the disappearance of centerpiece guard James Harden, the Sixers were desperate to placate a fan base fed up with a decade of The Process.
The answer?
Sign “BBall Paul.”
Reed had one foot in the Mormon Tabernacle when, at the last minute last Sunday night, the Sixers stunned the basketball world and matched the three-year, $23 million deal Utah offered Reed as a restricted free agent.
This delighted a very vocal minority of Sixers fans who adore him. Reed’s devotees laid down their pitchforks and extinguished their torches, but matching the offer came with burdens: a $14 million luxury-tax penalty, a one-year no-trade clause, and the likelihood that the contract will become fully guaranteed, unless the Sixers choke even worse in the playoffs.
Immediately, the question arose: Did Jazz CEO Danny Ainge outfox the Sixers again? You know, the way he did in 2017 when, as the Celtics’ president, he duped the Sixers into trading a 2019 first-round pick to move up to No. 1 and draft Markelle Fultz, now a legendary bust, over Jayson Tatum, now a perennial MVP candidate. Did Ainge, who as a player in the 1980s embodied everything hateable about the Celtics, bedevil Philadelphia one more time? And if so, with what motivation?
No, Ainge must really believe that Reed is worth the gamble.
And it is a gamble.
In three seasons with the team, Reed, 24, has contributed 3.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.6 blocked shots, and 0.7 steals. These numbers are remarkably consistent even as his participation increased year over year, from 26 games to 38 games to 69 games. He has no offensive perimeter game, he has no signature interior moves, and does not defend particularly well outside15 feet.
Seriously, if the Sixers loved him so much, they wouldn’t have waited until 90 minutes before the deadline to match the offer.
That said, it’s not the worst contract the Sixers will pay this season. And yes, there are a few things to like about Reed.
Last season, he ranked third in loose balls recovered per 36 minutes among players who played in at least as many as his 69 games. He also averaged 12.5 rebounds per 36 minutes, which ranked sixth among players who played in as many games. Starting in place of injured MVP Joel Embiid, he snagged 15 rebounds in a Game 4 close-out of the Brooklyn Nets in Round 1 of the playoffs this past season, and in the next game he got 13 more rebounds in a Game 1 win over the Celtics. He also dribbled behind his back and between his legs in traffic in the Sixers’ playoff opener, a rare moment of ecstasy for his rabid cult.
The problem was, Reed routinely limited his own minutes because he is a foul machine. He averaged 5.9 fouls per 36 minutes, by far the worst foul rate in the league among players who played at least 69 games. It was 0.7 fouls, or about 12%, more than the second-place player, veteran Mavericks big man Dwight Powell, who generally exercises more judicious use of his infractions.
Reed was even worse the previous season, when he averaged 6.8 fouls per 36 minutes. Remember, you get only six fouls per 48 minutes. And about half of Reed’s fouls are, well, dumb: over-the-back block attempts, reach-ins 20 feet from the rim, illegal screens. These are middle-school fouls from a guy six years removed from high school.
And yes, these fouls matter. They push the opposition toward the bonus, which gives the opposition easy points.
That’s why, when faced with bigger lineups two seasons ago, Sixers coaches were reluctant to play Reed over aging DeAndre Jordan.
Doc Rivers got so fed up with obtuse questioners inquiring why Reed didn’t play more that season that in April, he delivered his most condescending replies in his three seasons of frequent condescension: “Let me clarify this one more time for everybody who struggles with this. ... I’m going to say it slow so that we can all pick it up. ... Against big fives, because of fouling, we like D.J. Do you understand that?”
Reed’s popularity has soared since.
Rivers got fired.
Maybe his replacement, Nick Nurse, will rein in Reed’s enthusiasm. Maybe Nurse will get more from Reed’s 6-foot-9, 210-pound frame that bounds up and down like a pogo stick, often aimlessly.
Reed was the 2021 MVP and rookie of the year in the NBA G League, which was nice but indicates exactly what the G League is: less a developmental arena than continuous audition sessions for players who get picked third-from-last in their draft class.
At least Reed understands branding. He nicknamed himself “BBall Paul,” and his “Out The Mud” clothing line — a self-tribute to his resilience in pursuing his NBA dream — sells well on social media.
And, really, $23 million for three years isn’t all that much in today’s NBA. After all, the Sixers are willing to pay Harden $35.6 million for one more season.
That won’t go over nearly as well.
