The Detroit Pistons have claimed heart Paul Reed off waivers, the staff 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 suggestion sheet as a restricted free agent final summer season.)
Does Detroit want Reed? Not likely, particularly if one assumes that the arrival of Tobias Harris implies that Isaiah Stewart will not begin at energy ahead. Jalen Duren will presumably proceed to start out at heart underneath new coach J.B. Bickerstaff, and, whereas Stewart (and Reed, I suppose) can play some 4, it isn’t perfect for both of them. So long as Duren, Stewart and Reed are all on the roster, there might be a little bit of a frontcourt logjam, similar to there was for a lot of the previous couple of 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 throughout 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 previous and was productive in Philadelphia, because the transfer hardly has any draw back. It eats into Detroit’s remaining cap area, which it might (in principle, no less than) use to soak up undesirable wage from different groups in trade for future draft picks … however ought to it must create area between now and Jan. 10, when Reed’s 2024-25 wage turns into assured, it could actually merely waive him.
Possibly Reed’s presence makes it simpler for the Pistons to half with Stewart in a commerce. Possibly 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 chance right here. Reed was solely on waivers as a result of A) he signed a bizarre provide sheet that specified his 2024-25 wage can be non-guaranteed until his staff gained a spherical within the playoffs in 2024, and B) the Sixers wanted to maximise their cap area to signal Caleb Martin.
Talking of the Sixers: Although Reed struggled of their first-round collection towards 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 struggle (or if extra groups had been fascinated about taking over wage this offseason), Philadelphia might have no less than moved him for, say, a second-round decide. I’ll chorus from criticizing Daryl Morey’s entrance workplace on this regard, although, provided 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 might be missed, however the Sixers are feeling simply positive.
