Detroit Pistons claim Paul Reed off waivers, reunites with Tobias Harris

Reed's deal became non-guaranteed after the Sixers failed to make the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Paul Reed will join Tobias Harris in Detroit after being picked up on waivers.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Published July 9, 2024, 9:17 p.m. ET

Paul Reed has found an NBA home, landing with the Detroit Pistons three days after being waived by the 76ers.

Reed, whose three-year deal became non-guaranteed after the Sixers failed to make the second round of the playoffs in the first year, became a salary-cap casualty as the team sought to remake the roster and add more experience and rebounding behind Joel Embiid.

With a slight build, the 6-foot-9 Reed was slotted as the Sixers’ backup center despite being more comfortable as a forward. He drew the tough assignment of replacing Embiid and struggled mightily.

Reed’s biggest struggles came in the Sixers’ first-round series against the New York Knicks. Embiid played nearly every minute in the series, but when he did sit the Sixers floundered with Reed in his place, as big men Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein had their way against Reed.

Reed picked a tough time to play some of his least inspired basketball. The forward signed a three-year, $23.5 million deal as a restricted free agent in 2023. When the Sixers lost in this year’s postseason, the second ($7.7 million) and third ($8.1 million) years of that deal became available for the Sixers to move off their books.

The Sixers’ decision to draft power forward Adem Bona with the 41st pick and sign center Andre Drummond to a two-year, $10 million deal in free agency confirmed that Reed would soon hit the open market.

Reed, a fan favorite in Philly, will get a chance to redeem himself on a rebuilding Pistons team that can offer him more minutes and move him back at forward. In Detroit, he’ll be reunited with former Sixers forward Tobias Harris, who signed a two-year, $52 million deal.