Sixers Player Profile: “BBall” Paul Reed

Age: 22 (turns 23 in June)

Contract status: Reed is entering year two of a three-year, $3.9 million contract with the Sixers.

Background info: The Sixers selected Reed with the 58th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft after the big man completed three years at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Hailed as a defensive Swiss Army knife with stretch potential — yet destined to drop in the draft due to his unheralded school and relatively advanced age — Reed began the season with the Sixers on a two-way contract, prescribed to spend the majority of his time with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League. There, he made a massive impact on not only the Blue Coats but on the NBA’s developmental league at large. Reed was awarded both the G League’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player trophies, averaging 22.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks on .588/.444/.789 shooting splits in 15 games with Delaware.

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The Sixers and Ben Simmons have reached the point of no return

Maybe this was inevitable.

Maybe any reality wherein the 2020-21 NBA season didn’t culminate in a parade down Broad Street would have begotten a divorce like the one we’re dealing with now.

Personally, I was skeptical that the Sixers would return the key cogs of the roster around Joel Embiid if they fell short of reaching the Finals. This belief was emboldened when I saw the particular path that had shaken out in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. My guess at the time was that a non-Finals appearance would indicate loudly enough to team President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey that a meaningful change was necessary if the team wanted to truly contend for a title during Embiid’s prime.

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Report: Sixers haven’t been able to get in touch with Ben Simmons since season’s end

In the first half of today’s episode of The Gastroenteritis Blues, Steve and Dan were joined by Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer. The impetus behind Jake’s appearance was to expand upon the Sixers-specific angle of his report from Saturday, wherein he wrote that Washington Wizards star guard Bradley Beal was considering requesting a trade out of Washington prior to Thursday’s NBA Draft.

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You don’t need to choose between Doc Rivers and Ben Simmons when assigning blame for the Sixers’ collapse

In the wake of a collapse like the one the Sixers suffered at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks and completed on Sunday night, fans are shellshocked. How could the Sixers, after a tremendous season which saw its star player vault into the best-player-in-the-league conversation while it secured the Eastern Conference’s number 1 seed and the easiest path to the Conference Finals in recent history, peter out in such tremendous fashion?

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Five matchups to watch for in Sixers-Wizards playoff series

Thanks to a 142-115 drubbing of the Indiana Pacers, the Washington Wizards have earned their playoff spot in the 1-8 matchup against the Sixers, set to begin this Sunday at 1pm, Eastern.

While maybe not the easiest of the four available play-in options, Washington presents an interesting challenge to start the postseason for a Sixers team with title hopes. Make no mistake: the Sixers should absolutely dispatch with Washington in short order, but the Wizards are one of the few down-bracket playoff teams that got especially hot down the stretch. After a horrid 18-32 performance throughout the season’s first 50 games, Washington went 16-6 to finish the year, spurred largely by rejuvenated play from point guard Russell Westbrook.

Read the full piece here.