Sans any intention of jinxing it, the Philadelphia 76ers have been playing much better as of late. While they are still nine games below .500, they have looked really solid for the most part in their recent outings –– a fact attributable to better play from their role players and Paul George returning from injury. Joel Embiid is similarly poised to follow suit in a short while.
Still, the 76ers are obviously in no position to rest on their laurels and just bank on the short "momentum" they have conjured, if you can call it that. The Eastern Conference may be top-heavy right now to the point where Philly is somehow only two games behind 10th place, but the rest of the league is not going to just sit idly, waiting for them to start acting like the contenders they are.
Philadelphia is once again reeling from center depth issues, but it's nowhere near as disastrous as it was last season when Joel Embiid's midseason injury completely threw the team off. During the offseason, the front office went after some upgrades at the position at the expense of their in-house options, which they eventually ditched.
One casualty of the 76ers's free agency largesse was Paul Reed, whom the team waived in order to free up more cap space. Nick Nurse and the coaching staff initially had high hopes for the 25-year-old, but constrained in a backup role without really showing a moving reason to be plunged into a bigger spot, he simply stagnated.
Reed was also one of the most inconsistent players on the roster last season, and his considerable non-guaranteed contract meant that he would be an easy flick for the front office. True enough, it didn't take the 76ers long to drop the hammer on him.
He eventually found his way to Detroit, which was puzzling given that the Pistons were already loaded at the position even back then. The result? He is averaging just 10 minutes per outing, finding himself in head coach J.B. Bickerstaff's doghouse.
Unless Reed completely modernizes his game, it's difficult to envision him fully realizing his potential and landing a bigger role. Unfortunately, the 76ers do not have the luxury of time to wait for project pieces to fully bloom, proving they did the right thing by moving on from him.
Hopefully, Paul Reed still gets to find a permanent home where he can fully showcase his gifts. But for now, the Philadelphia 76ers are most definitely not kicking the blanket due to his absence.