Philadelphia 76ers: The Athletic’s John Hollinger LOVES Paul Reed
By any quantifiable metric, the Philadelphia 76ers did very, very well for themselves in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Despite entering the evening with five total picks, far more than their vet-heavy roster could stomach, new head honcho Daryl Morey and his crack team of scouts ended out the evening with three players, all of which were either considered steals at the time – Tyrese Maxey and Paul Reed – or have since gone on to prove their worth in limited action (Isaiah Joe).
If all goes well, which never really happens in sports, the Sixers netted themselves three players who could be serious contributors for Doc Rivers moving forward, even if none of them necessarily have the “star power” to usurp Tobias Harris in their Big 3 alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. But still, landing a spark plug point guard who could conceivably play the two if he becomes a more consistent shooter, a high-volume marksman who would have looked right at home on the last few Houston Rockets teams, and a small-ball center with a soft touch from beyond the arc is a great haul for any team, especially one with an Executive Vice President who’d only been with the team for 18 days pre-draft.
But which member of the Philadelphia 76ers draft class has the highest ceiling? Tyrese Maxey? Isaiah Joe? Well, if you ask ex-Memphis Grizzlies Vice President of Basketball Operations/current The Athletic senior writer John Hollinger, he’ll tell you loud and clear with an unwavering voice that the answer unequivocally is none other Mr. Out the Mud, “BBall” Paul Reed.
Could Paul Reed ultimately become the Philadelphia 76ers’ secret weapon?
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On Monday, April 26th, three of The Athletic’s basketball writers, James L. Edwards III, Sam Vecenie, and John Hollinger, decided to take it upon themselves to recompose the lottery selections of the 2020 NBA Draft with the context of a near-full season on the books (subscription required).
The idea was simple enough, and for the most part, the picks were rather predictable. LaMelo Ball jumped up two spots to become the top overall pick, Tyrese Haliburton leapfrogged a slew of players selected before him to join the already-crowded backcourt of the Cleveland Cavilers, and Villanova’s Saddiq Bey rightfully became a lottery pick as the 12th overall selection by the Sacramento Kings, which is way too low for a player of his caliber, but I digress.
Had that been that, this admittedly fun mock draft wouldn’t be particularly newsworthy on this Philadelphia Sports blog, but with the 14th overall pick – belonging to the Boston Celtics, if you didn’t know – Hollinger decided to throw a Clayton Kershaw-esque curveball into the mix by bypassing the next 45 players selected in reality to give Danny Ainge the big man he’s been needing since his fruitless pursuit of Anthony Davis for what felt like a half-decade.
But… why? It’s pretty safe to say the City of Brotherly Love has accepted Mr. BBall as openly and wholeheartedly as any deep-bench reserve in recent memory, pleading for playing time in comments sections and cheering loudly whenever he takes the court at the Wells Fargo Center, but is he really worthy of being a lottery pick, let alone being picked above Tyrese Maxey or Isaiah Joe?
Well, Hollinger doesn’t speculate too much on the topic. He mentions that Reed was a lottery pick on his pre-draft board, and he hasn’t done a thing to change that. He also highlights that Reed hasn’t played much as a rookie due to the Sixers’ loaded rotation but dominated in the G-League and could eventually earn a larger role a la Clint Capela in 2014-15.
And other than that, nothing. Hollinger flew in, dropped a bomb that would make Adrian Wojnarowski blush, and then dipped off to whatever he had next on his schedule, only touching on the mock draft a few more in the article’s comments section to answer questions about Haliburton, Obi Toppins, and Jae’Sean Tate.
Next. Ben Simmons turns in a vintage return performance. dark
So what is the takeaway from this piece? Well, for one, maybe Doc Rivers really should be playing Reed more, as he’d most surely be playing over the likes of Luke Kornet and Mo Wagner, who was waived by the team after nine games. Other than that, I guess it’s always encouraging to see a Sixers player get some out-of-nowhere shine from a veteran of both the sports media and NBA front office worlds, especially one who was drafted with the pen-penultimate pick in the draft. It’s just too bad the crew didn’t do a full-on mock draft, as it would have been nice to see if Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Joe received similar love.