Sixers’ first-round playoff exit puts Paul Reed’s future with the team in peril

All Paul Reed can do right now is continue to work hard and rely on a higher power.

That’s his coping mechanism with the uncertainty surrounding what was supposed to be the big man’s dream contract to remain with the 76ers. In July, Reed celebrated after the team matched the three-year, $23.5 million offer sheet he received from the Utah Jazz.

The contract was expected to change the lifestyle of the player, who had career earnings of $3.9 million through his first three seasons.

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But there was one clause: The Sixers had to advance to the second round of this season’s playoffs for the second and third years of his deal to be guaranteed.

That didn’t happen, as they were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the first round last week.

Now, he must remain on the roster by Jan. 10, 2025 for his second-year salary ($7.7 million) to become guaranteed. Then Reed must remain with the team through Jan. 10, 2026, to receive all of his third-year salary ($8.1 million).

The Sixers will not owe him anything if they waive or trade him before the start of next season.

“This definitely adds a little extra pressure, but I’m going to go out there and put my best foot forward every day like I always do,” Reed said. “I always perform my best under pressure, so everything is for a reason. And maybe this is in God’s plans. So it is what it is.”

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Under new coach Nick Nurse, the 6-foot-9, 220-pounder was provided opportunities he didn’t receive while playing his first three seasons for Doc Rivers. Reed averaged career highs in points (7.3), rebounds (6.0), assists (1.3), blocks (1.0) and minutes (19.4). The fourth-year veteran also shot a career-best 36.8% on three-pointers. And because Joel Embiid was sidelined with injuries, Reed made a career-high 24 starts while playing in all 82 regular-season games.

“The whole season was all right, but I feel like I could have done a lot better,” Reed said. “I definitely grew a lot, though, understanding what [the coaches wanted] and playing a lot more minutes was kind of a wake-up to where I needed to grow in certain areas, recovering and types of ways mentally and physically. I grew a lot for sure.

“I feel like moving forward, I’ll be able to handle playing more minutes.”

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Reed struggled in the postseason, averaging 1.5 points on 44.4% shooting along with 2.7 rebounds in 7.2 minutes. The Sixers were outscored by 21 points during his 11 minutes, 27 seconds of action in Game 1.

That began the trend of the Knicks going on runs whenever he was in the game in place of Embiid. In addition to being attacked defensively, Reed failed to score in the series’ final three games.

“This is definitely a different type of feeling for me,” he said. “I never felt this before, getting kicked out of the first round. Like I said, I blame myself. … I always look at what I can do better and try to grow from that.”