CHARLESTON, S.C.–The Philadelphia 76ers are working on different lineup combinations with their new roster. They made plenty of offseason additions expected to help them take the next step in the Eastern Conference.
One was Montrezl Harrell. He was added shortly before training camp, and it is assumed he will be the backup big man to Joel Embiid.
That position belonged to Paul Reed in the postseason. With the addition of Harrell, he may have to change positions. The third-year big man is playing power forward to begin training camp.
“It feels natural,” said Reed. “It feels a bit different, but defensively, I feel like I’m doing the same types of things I would be doing if I was a 5. I’m still playing the same type of role. I just gotta space the floor a little more and run different sets and run different plays, I gotta do different things, but it’s the same for real.”
The addition of Harrell doesn’t change the fact Reed will see minutes at the center spot. He is just experimenting at power forward.
“Paul’s still playing the 5 most of the time, but we’re playing him at the 4 now, too,” said coach Doc Rivers.
Rivers is excited about the potential of having Reed in the lineup as a 4 and unleashing him within the offense and on the glass.
“Paul has done a great job of finding when to roll, where to get to the dunker spot, but more importantly for us, it’s more on the glass and things like that where we can get the ball out to that group,” Rivers added. “When we’re running, we’re pretty good.”
The Sixers have four days of training camp left, so Reed and the rest of the team have plenty of time to figure things out.
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