Sixers will go ‘smaller’ behind Joel Embiid with Paul Reed, Montrezl Harrell, and P.J. Tucker

P.J. Tucker chuckled when asked to assess the “smaller” frontcourt players that could back up All-NBA 76ers center Joel Embiid this season.

“Everybody’s smaller than him,” Tucker said of Embiid following Friday’s practice.

Tucker is mostly correct, of course. But this is the first time during Doc Rivers’ three-year tenure as coach that the Sixers will not begin the season with a more traditional 7-footer behind Embiid. Instead, they will turn to the 6-foot-9 Paul Reed, the 6-7 Montrezl Harrell, and the 6-5 Tucker, who make up for a lack of size with high-motor mentalities, defensive versatility, and individualized strengths that Rivers hopes can be catered to specific matchups.

“With the collection, we feel very comfortable with what we have,” Rivers said.

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Reed, who was Embiid’s backup during last season’s playoffs, has maintained that role so far during the preseason. The 2020 second-round draft pick started the Oct. 3 preseason opener against the Brooklyn Nets while Embiid rested, then was Embiid’s first-half sub last Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Harrell, the 2020 NBA Sixth Man of the Year who was a late addition to the Sixers’ free-agent class, was behind Reed before a rib muscle injury kept him out of Monday’s game at Cleveland. Tucker, who will normally start at forward, began Monday’s game against the Cavaliers at center because Embiid (rest) and Harrell were out.

Because Reed and Harrell can also shift to power forward, Rivers expects both players to be in the rotation regardless of who leaves the bench first. Harrell added that he is not viewing the preseason as a direct competition between him and Reed for the backup center spot.

“To be honest with you, I don’t think nothing like that,” Harrell said. “That’s not really up to me. That’s something [in which] the coaches ... get in their room and kind of battle with each other [to decide] who’s going to go here, who’s going to go there. …

“I know what the game comes with. I know how to be a pro, man. So at the end of the day, it is what it is. Simple as that.”

During the 2020-21 season, Dwight Howard was Embiid’s backup. The following season, that job belonged to Andre Drummond, whom Embiid called the best in that role so far during his career because of his rebounding and playmaking. Yet, by including Drummond in February’s blockbuster trade package that sent Ben Simmons to the Nets and brought James Harden to Philly, it left the Sixers in a conundrum.

Rivers initially was not ready to drop Reed into that role. Signing veteran DeAndre Jordan off the buyout market yielded poor results. Reed eventually moved into that spot to match up with the long and athletic Toronto Raptors during the playoffs’ first round. But when an orbital fracture and concussion kept Embiid out of Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat, Jordan started — and struggled — while the Sixers fell into early deficits.

Though Tucker is an atypical option, he has vast experience sliding over to center. He became a midseason starter at the position for the “microball” Houston Rockets, after they traded rim runner Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks at the 2020 deadline. Tucker also filled in there last season when Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo was injured.

Tucker thrives on physicality but said he does not plan to post up unless he has a defensive mismatch. Instead, he wants to facilitate for others from that spot. Rivers envisions lineup combinations with Tucker as the floor-spacer to lure the opposing center out to the corner — where Tucker shot 41.3% on 172 three-point attempts last regular season — and a smaller teammate such as Matisse Thybulle as the designated roller.

“You can really just play an unorthodox [style of] basketball with that,” Rivers said. “… Playing Minnesota [with Rudy Gobert], making that [center] stand out at the corner is good for us.”

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Rivers prefers Harrell at center because he is not the consistent outside shooting threat to stretch the floor like a modern power forward. Instead, Harrell brings an intensity to finish around the basket and keep possessions alive by grabbing offensive rebounds. Last season, he averaged 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while splitting time between the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets.

Reed, who averaged 3.7 points on 52.8% shooting and 3.8 rebounds in 11.7 playoff minutes per game last spring, is expected to continue developing in his third NBA season — and first without frequent trips to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats. He is the best roller of the bunch, Rivers said. He has improved at playing within the Sixers’ system, including executing sharp dribble-handoffs, knowing when to get into the “dunker” spot down low, and playing aggressive defense without fouling.

And Reed has picked up tidbits from his new veteran teammates. Tucker has been in Reed’s ear about communicating on defensive coverages. Countering Harrell’s tenacity during practice makes Reed feel as if he is matching up against himself, recalling a time during an open gym when an inadvertent elbow from Harrell to Reed’s lip drew blood.

“Dang, OK, he’s got a little game,” Reed thought at the time.

Rivers said he is also open to playing Reed and Embiid together, a tandem that the coach believes could make Reed “impossible” to box out as a rebounder but that requires shooters to surround those two big men. Reed and Harrell shared the floor down the stretch of last Wednesday’s preseason game against the Cavaliers, during which Harrell provided the game-winning layup. Rivers also tried an Embiid-Harrell pairing during training camp, bracing himself for a “train wreck” but coming away relatively satisfied with how it looked.

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Reed went even one step further, recently fantasizing about all three of them on the floor at the same time.

Even though they are all a tad smaller than Embiid.

“I feel like just having one of us out there on the court would be enough,” Reed said. “But having all of us out there on the court, that would be dangerous.”