PHILADELPHIA — Young Philadelphia 76ers big man Paul Reed continues to work hard and develop in his role during his third season with the Sixers. He’s averaging 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds as the backup big man to Joel Embiid, and he has taken control of the backup spot.
Reed has averaged 12.1 minutes over the last 18 games and has averaged 4.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and a block per game. He has continued to make strides, and the Sixers have benefited from his strong play.
Chicago Bulls big man Andre Drummond was a teammate of Reed’s for half of the 2021-22 season, and he has been impressed with what he’s seen from Reed thus far.
“Paul Reed was my guy when I was here,” Drummond said. “I was always with Paul. I was one of his biggest supporters when he would go down to the G League and play. I was always someone that was in his corner for his success so to see him have a little bit of success right now is good.”
It’s obvious Reed loves the game of basketball. He continues to put the work in to succeed at this level. Drummond saw that first-hand while in Philadelphia.
“I think something that’s not talked about enough with Paul Reed is his love for the game,” Drummond explained. “The kid is always in the gym. Night in and night out before and after practices, he’s always in at night time at random ass times of the night.”
Reed still has a lot of development to undergo in order to become a more complete player, but it’s obvious that he has the passion and the drive to succeed. He wants to be a good player in this league.
“It’s almost to the point where the coaches have to tell him to chill out,” Drummond finished. “He needs to rest, but I’m proud of everything he’s done so far. I think he’s coming into his own, he’s a high-energy big that is somebody good to play behind Joel.”
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