The Philadelphia 76ers haven’t been able to make much in the way of substantial offseason moves since free agency began, as they have a crowded cap sheet and have been focused mostly on James Harden’s future after he picked up his player option and requested a trade — that Joel Embiid hopes he’ll change his mind about.
In the meantime, they signed Patrick Beverley and Mo Bamba earlier in free agency, but their biggest free agent decision came on Sunday night when they had to decide whether to match the 3-year, $23 million offer sheet the Utah Jazz got Paul Reed to sign. Reed averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last year as Joel Embiid’s backup and is a promising young player. That said, the Jazz made him a unique contract offer that featured one year fully guaranteed, but a stipulation that all three years will be guaranteed if his team makes the conference semifinals.
The 76ers are matching Paul Reed’s three-year, $23M offer sheet with the Jazz, sources tell ESPN. Per sheet’s terms, Sixers must guarantee last two years of Reed’s deal if they win the opening round of playoffs this season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 10, 2023
It’s a rather wicked contract incentive given the Jazz would be an unlikely second round playoff team in the West, but that is the expectation for Philadelphia. As such, matching the offer sheet shows at least a bit of commitment from ownership to this team and being willing to pay the tax bill to keep them competitive around Embiid — with Harden’s situation still pending, of course.
