Philadelphia 76ers: Paul Reed proved he belongs in the association

The Philadelphia 76ers had one heck of a tough task at hand when the Milwaukee Bucks came to town.

The team had just played a game the night prior, and were immediately thrust back into action against the reigning NBA Champions without Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, Isaiah Joe, Matisse Thybulle, Grant Riller, and Ben Simmons.

Granted, were the Bucks down a few players too? Yes. As the fine folks at TNT pointed out over and over again, the team was down Brook Lopez, Khris Middletown, and Donte DiVincenzo, but when the Sixers entered a game without all three of their max contract players and their best perimeter defenders, it’s a rather tough task to take on a former league MVP.

And yet, Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t the reason the Philadelphia 76ers dropped their second straight contest, not when Paul Reed was in the court, anyway.

The Philadelphia 76ers should be beyond proud of Paul Reed’s defensive development.

4-11

That’s the shooting line Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded when covered by Paul Reed in the Milwaukee Bucks’ first game of the season against the Philadelphia 76ers.

That, my friends, is pretty darn incredible for a former late-second round pick playing in only his 35th NBA game.

Want to know what else is impressive? The rest of the pride of DePaul University’s stat line, as he finished out the game with six points, six rebounds, two blocks, and three steals in 24 minutes of action.

If you’re a fan of the Delaware Blue Coats, this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Reed won G-League MVP for a reason and routinely made “wow” plays at both ends of the court, but historically, that doesn’t necessarily translate to NBA success. Of the last seven G-League MVPs, only two, Reed and Chris Boucher, are still even in the Association today, and neither are consistent starters for their current teams.

And yet, much like Boucher before him, Reed appears to have found a way to translate his varied skill set into NBA success in a way that few of the smaller guard winners could only dream of, filling a hybrid forward role built for the switching nature of the modern NBA.

Did Reed impact the game all that much on offensive end of the court in the Sixers’ eventual loss to the Bucks? No, but the team was very much still in it when he exited the game in the fourth quarter thanks to his defensive efforts, only to watch the Bucks build up an insurmountable lead once the starters re-entered the game.

Maybe Doc Rivers should have broken with his typical rotation and given Reed some more run in the final… *sigh* never-ending, that’s a complaint for another day.

Replacing Ben Simmons’ defensive abilities was always going to be hard for the Philadelphia 76ers. Sure, the team still had Matisse Thybulle, who remains a defensive wizard on the perimeter, but putting him on 6-foot-10 driving forwards consistently would be a waste of his massive talents. If, however, the Sixers can use Paul Reed in those plays when the situation presents itself, such a move could open up a world of possibilities for a Sixers squad that will eventually return to full strength one day.