Paul Reed ‘ecstatic’ Sixers matched Jazz’s $23.5 million offer sheet, but ‘same mentality still applies’

Nothing changed for Paul Reed ... besides his paychecks.

The 76ers reserve center is still grounded. He still spends endless hours in the gym working on his game. And he still lives by the motto “Out The Mud”, which means to come from the bottom of something and rise to the top.

“The same mentality still applies,” Reed said Tuesday at the Jr. 76ers Summer Hoops Tour event at the Boys and Girls Club of Chester.

“I’m putting in work,” the 24-year-old added. “So I feel like it’s the same mentality. I ain’t in the mud.”

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He’s definitely not.

Reed signed a three-year, $23.5 million contract on July 10 to remain with the Sixers. That came one day after the team matched the restricted free agent’s offer sheet from the Utah Jazz just before the midnight deadline to do so.

Matching it enabled the Sixers to keep their backup center and Philly fan favorite.

The first season of the deal is guaranteed for $7.3 million. The two following seasons will become guaranteed if the team he’s playing for advances to the conference semifinals this season.

Reed also has veto power on a trade for a season by remaining a Sixer.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, to be honest,” Reed said of the Sixers matching his offer sheet. “You know, a free agent, a restricted free agent. So they had the opportunity to match. When I saw they signed Trez [Montrezl Harrell] and [Mo] Bamba, my agent was like, ‘It’s probably not likely that they will match.’

“But when they matched, we were surprised.”

Asked if he was happy with the Sixers’ decision, Reed responded “Yeah, I was ecstatic.”

Maybe not as ecstatic as the Sixers fan base.

Fans went to sports talk radio and social media to campaign for the Sixers to match the Jazz’s offer sheet.

“That just shows you how much our fans care about our team and our success and how much they appreciate me as a player,” Reed said. “And I appreciate the fans just as much as they appreciate me.”

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That was evident by Tuesday’s appearance at the Boys & Girls Club.

Reed arrived around 40 minutes into the camp to loud cheers and chants of “B Ball Paul!” while low-fiving all of the young campers. He did a brief Q&A with the attendees, autographed their T-shirts, and helped put them through drills.

“Any opportunity I get to come back and teach the youth something, spend my time with them, I always try to take advantage of it,” Reed said. “It’s like a moral thing.”

Growing in Orlando, Reed frequented the local Boys & Girls Club, recreation centers, and camps there like the one he participated in on Tuesday. As a 9-year-old, he participated in then-Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard’s camp. Fast forward to the 2020-21 season and the duo were Sixers teammates.

Howard’s camp was one of the coolest experiences of his life. It also served as motivation to pursue an NBA career.

Now, he’s looking forward to his fourth season with the Sixers. The plan under new coach Nick Nurse is for him to play some power forward in addition to center.

“They’ve been working on me with my shot a lot so I can stretch the floor,” Reed said, “and I can be a real threat at the four position.”

The 6-foot-9, 227-pounder has tweaked his shooting mechanics a little and feels more confident in his shot. And he’s getting good feedback from Nurse, who was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors the past five seasons.

“He talked about molding me into a Pascal Siakam-type player,” Reed said of the Raptors All-Star forward. “Somebody who can kind of do it all - shoot the ball, drive, pass. But right [now], it’s all about focusing on my shot mechanics. That’s the start. That’s where it starts at.”

It’s a good thing he’s going to play some power forward because the center position is overcrowded with MVP Joel Embiid, Bamba, Harrell, and Filip Petrušev all in the mix. Like Reed, Petrušev can play power forward.

“I’m a hard worker,” Reed said. “I know I’m going to come in, work hard, do what I’m supposed to do. And I let God take care of the rest.

“I’m not really worried about too much.”