Paul Reed Signs Three-Year, $25M Offer Sheet With Utah Jazz
The Sixers have until Sunday night to match.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Sixers restricted free agent center Paul Reed has signed a three-year offer sheet worth around $23M with the Utah Jazz, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. The Sixers have until 11:59PM ET on Sunday to decide whether or not to match the deal and bring Reed back to Philadelphia.
As rumors began to swirl in recent days following the Sixers’ signings of free agent centers Mo Bamba and Montrezl Harrell, it seemed a Utah offer sheet may have been on the way. Indeed it was, as Reed, 24, has signed a deal that is designed to be very difficult for the Sixers to match.
While the deal is worth $23M over three years on its face, it is actually much more complicated. According to Wojnarowski, only the first year of the deal is guaranteed, and the latter two seasons only become guaranteed if whichever team he is on advances to the second round of the playoffs next season. So for the Jazz, this deal would essentially be a one-year investment, while the Sixers would have to be prepared to commit to Reed as their backup center for two additional seasons. This deal would also take the Sixers into the luxury tax — they were considered likely to end up there anyways, to be fair, but it is still an important tidbit.
Sometimes restricted free agents sign offer sheets in hopes it will not be matched and sometimes they do want their incumbent team to match. For basketball and financial reasons, Reed likely falls into the latter category.
Reed established himself as the Sixers’ primary backup center last season, while in Utah he would be joining an already crowded frontcourt featuring Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and John Collins, where his role will be more difficult to calculate.
Additionally, the unique guarantee system within this contract makes it so that Reed stands to be assured of nearly $15M more if his team makes it beyond the first round of the playoffs. Given the Sixers’ talent level and Utah’s entrance into a rebuild, all of that money is much more likely to go Reed’s way if he is in Philadelphia. On top of that, if the Sixers do match, Reed is given a no-trade clause for the entirety of next season, as is afforded to all restricted free agents who sign offer sheets that get matched by their original teams.
While I tip my cap to Danny Ainge’s Utah front office for making this as difficult of a decision as possible, if I was the Sixers I would match this deal and bring Reed back as the team’s backup center behind reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid. But that happening is far from a certainty.