According to Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy, the Indiana Pacers are interested in Willie Reed.
All the money flooding into the market as slowed down the usual flurry of free agent signings as July 1st hit, but as a few players begin to sign, things are expected to pick up.
One of those players could be former Brooklyn Nets forward, Willie Reed.
According to Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy, the Indiana Pacers are interested in Reed.
Pacers, Timberwolves Interested in Willie Reed?
Pacers, Timberwolves Interested in Willie Reed?
Reed is a 6’10” power forward who bounced around the NBA Development League since 2012, with one stop in the Dominican Republic last year with Metros de Santiago.
Also sandwiched in there was some time with the Indiana Pacers in the Orlando Summer League where he averaged 9.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks a game.
Reed averaged 15.9 points and 9.9 rebounds a game with four different D-League teams, but after his stop in the Dominican Republic, he was signed by the Brooklyn Nets last July during free agency.
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But his debut for the Nets had to wait when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb in a preseason game, which required surgery to repair it. In his first NBA game in December against the New York Knicks, he scored 8 points in 11 minutes. He left the Nets in April for the remainder of the season for ‘personal reasons’.
In his NBA career, he’s averaged 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in10.9 minutes a game, starting 2 and playing in 39 for the Nets. He saw less time under coach Tony Brown, who replaced Lionel Hollins after 37 games.
Why should Pacers and their fans be interested in Reed, though? Earlier this summer Kennedy wrote that the Brooklyn big man could be a steal in free agency because, in spite of his average personal stats, the Nets were a better team when he was on the court.
"This past season in Brooklyn, Reed averaged 4.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and .8 blocks in 39 games while shooting an efficient 57.1 percent from the field. These numbers may not jump off of the page, but that’s because Reed was playing just 10.9 minutes per game. His per-100-possession numbers were terrific: 21.5 points, 14.4 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. It wasn’t uncommon to see Reed score in double figures with a handful of rebounds and blocks despite playing just a few minutes.But the team’s stats show that Reed made the most of his time on the court, as he was one of the Nets’ most productive players when given minutes. He led all Brooklyn players in net rating (+8), offensive rating (116), true shooting percentage (57.9 percent), field goal percentage (57.1 percent), block percentage (5.7 percent) and win shares per 48 minutes (.134). He finished second on the team in PER (19.2), total rebound percentage (16.1 percent) and offensive rebound percentage (12.7 percent)."
If Reed came off the bench for the Pacers and had more than the few double-digit scoring and rebounding games he had in Brooklyn — and more importantly contributed to team success — then he might just be a low-cost steal in this year’s free agency.