Paul Reed stepped up in a big way on Wednesday night against the Bulls with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Reed was forced into the starting center spot after various injuries to the Pistons' normal starters, and he filled it beautifully. Reed has played a great backup big role for the Pistons the last two seasons as a defensive specialist but he's now showing that he's got solid offensive talent as well and can play different roles if needed.
Paul Reed is a great piece to have in the rotation
The Pistons have progressively been dealing with more and more injuries over the last couple weeks, but were hoping to avoid them for their two best players this season - Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. However, both of the young stars were forced out of this game after playing heavy minutes in an overtime win over the Wizards on Monday. Reed is typically the third-string center but found himself jumping for the opening tip after Duren and Isaiah Stewart were sidelined.
While Paul Reed hasn't been known for his offense in Detroit, he has still shown flashes of his deep bag at opportune time. He has a surprisingly extensive handle for a big of his skillset and is expanding his range to become a 3-point threat. In this game, he hit both of his long-range attempts and is now shooting 67% from three on the season (on extremely low volume). Reed's emergence as a secret option to keep the team humming aligns perfectly with the Pistons' discovery of their overall depth.
Reed prides himself on his defensive effort and high impact stats. He's regularly a team leader in +/- regardless of how many minutes he plays, and his relentless hustle on defense typically drives that stat. It was nice to see him continue that effort even while featuring as the team's primary scorer in this game. He had 4 steals and 1 block in his minutes to add two-way value. His hustle also showed up offensively through his 6 offensive rebounds, continuing the trend of the Pistons dominating opponents in the paint on both ends.
On a night when the Pistons needed their deep rotation players to go above and beyond, Paul Reed did exactly that. He may not get opportunities to ball out like this often, but "BBall Paul" proved that he can make the most of them when they arise. It also gives the Pistons reassurance in case one of their regular starting bigs need to miss some time or gets into foul trouble early. Having so much depth at one of the most important positions is such a luxury that the Pistons shouldn't take for granted.