Philadelphia 76ers: Paul Reed gives club flexibility in 2021 draft

When a franchise enters the draft, most of the time, they draft the best available player, regardless of position. There are exceptions to this rule and that exception happens more often with teams that are in contention as they have specific needs that they can’t address due to salary cap restrictions.

The Philadelphia 76ers would fit in that category as they have three players on max contracts on their cap with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris. The franchise needs to upgrade the depth at both power forward and center positions with the poor overall play of Mike Scott and Dwight Howard’s poor play in the postseason.

Luckily for the Sixers, because they drafted Paul Reed in the 2020 NBA Draft, he gives them some flexibility in which front court position they can target in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Reed gives the Philadelphia 76ers flexibility in the 2021 NBA Draft.

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For the 76ers, Reed played power forward as head coach Doc Rivers didn’t believe he was ready for minutes at the center position as a rookie. However, when he played at center for Philly’s G-League affiliate the Delaware Blue Coats, he played phenomenally as their starting center.

He was G-League MVP and Rookie of the Year as a result of his excellent play. Reed was a versatile defender in college which has translated on the G-League level for sure and he showed flashes of it on the NBA level as well.

It’s true that I’ve written that he needs to have a big offseason in order to step up as the backup center of the roster for next year. However, it’s more than plausible that he can take over Scott’s role as the veteran probably won’t return in free agency.

With that in mind, if the Sixers find a big in the draft that they like, then it shouldn’t matter what position they play. Reed is versatile enough defensively to play either the four or five in the second unit so drafting the best front court player is an easier decision for the 76ers to make.

Reed has legit upside and it only might not matter which position he plays at. That’s something that the Philadelphia 76ers’ front office needs to remember when they are evaluating draft prospects.