Young Philadelphia 76ers big man Paul Reed is one of the fan favorites in the City of Brotherly Love. He brings a burst of energy off the bench. He makes athletic plays. And he brings effort nightly.
With the Sixers needing somebody to fill the backup big man role — at least until they find somebody in the buyout market — Philadelphia will have to rely on Reed to back up Joel Embiid. He receives the opportunity after the Sixers sent Andre Drummond to the Brooklyn Nets in the James Harden deal.
Reed has had two solid games in the role. He had six points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks on Friday, and he followed that up with six points, seven rebounds and three steals on Saturday.
“He just needs to do whatever he’s been doing,” said Embiid. “He’s been amazing. Just the energy when he’s on the court, whether he’s setting screens, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, playing with a lot of energy. Doing the little stuff, that’s what we need from him when he gets on the floor.”
Reed makes his biggest impact by making big plays on the defensive end. He can use his athleticism and his quickness to get easy buckets in transition that way and he helps the team get stops.
“I think I’ve been doing good,” said Reed. “I’ve been focusing on defense, so I feel like as far as defense goes I’ve been doing what I’m supposed to do.”
And the other Sixers have noticed.
“The last few games, he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing,” Embiid finished. “That’s gonna help us a lot.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=59894]
[lawrence-related id=60067,60061,60058]