The Detroit Pistons have claimed heart Paul Reed off waivers, the crew introduced Tuesday. The Philadelphia 76ers waived the massive man on Saturday, and by claiming him, Detroit has acquired his current contract.
The contract has two years and $15.7 million remaining, however there is a twist: each seasons are non-guaranteed. (The Utah Jazz initially designed the deal, with whom Reed signed a proposal sheet as a restricted free agent final summer time.)
Does Detroit want Reed? Not likely, particularly if one assumes that the arrival of Tobias Harris signifies that Isaiah Stewart will not begin at energy ahead. Jalen Duren will presumably proceed to begin at heart below new coach J.B. Bickerstaff, and, whereas Stewart (and Reed, I suppose) can play some 4, it isn’t preferrred for both of them. So long as Duren, Stewart and Reed are all on the roster, there shall be a little bit of a frontcourt logjam, identical to there was for a lot of the last few seasons.
Worth-wise, although, this can be a good transfer for the Pistons. The Sixers outscored their opponents by 2.8 factors per 100 possessions in Reed’s non-garbage-time minutes in the course of the 2023-24 common season, per Cleansing The Glass, a quantity that makes him stand out amongst Joel Embiid’s many, many backups over time. Reed is 25 years outdated and was productive in Philadelphia, because the transfer hardly has any draw back. It eats into Detroit’s remaining cap house, which it might (in concept, at the least) use to soak up undesirable wage from different groups in change for future draft picks … however ought to it have to create house between now and Jan. 10, when Reed’s 2024-25 wage turns into assured, it could merely waive him.
Perhaps Reed’s presence makes it simpler for the Pistons to half with Stewart in a commerce. Perhaps they flip Reed in a commerce earlier than the top of this deal. No matter what comes subsequent, Detroit’s new entrance workplace, led by Trajan Langdon, appropriately acknowledged a possibility right here. Reed was solely on waivers as a result of A) he signed a bizarre supply sheet that specified his 2024-25 wage could be non-guaranteed until his crew gained a spherical within the playoffs in 2024, and B) the Sixers wanted to maximise their cap house to signal Caleb Martin.
Talking of the Sixers: Although Reed struggled of their first-round collection in opposition to the New York Knicks, it’s kind of stunning that they needed to resort to waiving him within the first place. If that they had extra time to create a bidding warfare (or if extra groups had been concerned with taking up wage this offseason), Philadelphia might have at the least moved him for, say, a second-round decide. I’ll chorus from criticizing Daryl Morey’s entrance workplace on this regard, although, on condition that it signed its high goal in free company (Paul George), acquired a less expensive, higher backup 5 in Andre Drummond, after which pulled off one other magic trick with the Martin deal. B-Ball Paul shall be missed, however the Sixers are feeling simply nice.
